Discovering One's Destiny
by WritingStylus1
Summary: Harold, a bright Earth pony scientist, is about to make the break-through discovery of his life, but as he messes with dark forces beyond his comprehension, will he be able to stay morally grounded, or will he fall to the dark entity's influence?
1. Chapter 1

Equestria, a land filled with ponies and other creatures, big and small, living in harmony. Of the pony races, there are three, each unique in their own way. There are unicorns, practical and wise. These ponies are born with horns on their heads that hold great power. This race is versed in a range of different types of magic and spells. The Pegasi, bold and swift. These ponies travel through the skies with the powerful wings they possess. They also control the weather, to help the land thrive. Finally, earth ponies, strong and dependable. These ponies are known for their speed and endurance. Some work as farmers, tilling the land and growing the food for all the ponies around Equestria. Each of them play their part to keep the harmony and balance that is known today. However, this does not mean there has not been times where Equestria's peaceful and strong spirit was tested. While rare, evil creatures and ponies have threatened the world, upsetting the balance and disrupting the harmony, wanting to see Equestria fall into a world of darkness. But six spirits of light have expunged the darkness every time. Known simply as the Elements of Harmony, these spirits have passed from pony to pony for centuries. The spirits of Loyalty, Kindness, Generosity, Laughter, and Honesty all combine to create the sixth element: Magic. Each new generation of specially selected ponies wield this powerful magic, created from a bond between ponies that so undeniably, inexplicably, truly strong, nothing can break it. It is with this power that-

"Cut, cut, cut!"

Twilight looked up from her notecards at the bearded, yellow pegasus with brown eyes, a reel of projection tape cutie mark, and wearing an Equestrian Theater hat as he slowly got up from his director chair. She gave him puzzled as he walked over to her, noticing that he did not seem pleased at all.

"Was there a problem with my narration, Mr. Filmore? Was it the tone of my voice, or the speed? I read in Narration 101 that keeping a conversation-like pace and tone in your voice is the best way to keep everypony's attention during these type of productions." She said.

"No, your delivery and tone are fine. But, need I remind you that Hist-questria is meant to be a _short_ forty-five-minute-long documentary on the history of Equestria? You were talking so long; our prop master ran out of props to use." He said, pointing to a blue pegasus with a white mane and puppets on strings cutie mark standing in front of a white screen, trying to sort through his limited set of now tangled props for the documentary.

"Oh, I'm sorry! So, what do you want me to take out? I still have 50 ½ cards left." She asked as she shuffled through her levitating cards. "All of this seems crucial if you truly want to know Equestria's history."

"I don't know. You can cut down the bit about the Elements of Harmony. Mention them and what they represent and then move on." He advised.

"What? But that's one of the most important parts! I can't take that out!" Twilight exclaimed.

Filmore sighed as he rubbed his head. While he thought having Equestria's heroines working closely with him on the project would be a good idea. It had given him nothing, but headaches so far.

"Look, I know how important the Elements of Harmony are to you and your friends, but it's not that important in this documentary! It's not about the Elements of Harmony!" He protested.

"It may not be, but they should! Without the Elements, how would we have stopped Nightmare Moon from causing everlasting night?" Twilight asked.

"Well, I'm sure we could have-"

"Or what about when Discord turned all of Equestria into a chaos realm?"

"But Celestia and Luna should have-"

"Or kept Tirek from destroying all of-"

"Alright! I get it! But this is _my_ documentary! When you make your own, you can put in as much as you want about the Elements, but I say to take most of it out!" He shouted, before taking a deep breath to calm down.

Twilight huffed a bit. "Fine." She then removed ten cards from the middle of the deck and put them into the trash bin next to her.

"What happened to the script I gave you? Why are you using cards?" He asked.

"Oh, that script had so many inaccuracies, I couldn't use it! Some things weren't in chronological order, and some parts skipped over the really important facts about important ponies throughout history!" She explained.

"Wait, you went off script without telling me?! You can't do that! Where's Rainbow Dash? She's supposed to be organizing the scripts for me."

Just then, Rainbow flew over to them, hovering in place aboard them.

"Alrighty, Mr. Filmore, sir, I've done everything you asked of me. What's next on the agenda?" Rainbow asked.

"Can you bring me the scripts I gave to you? I just found out Ms. Sparkle went completely off script." He said, shooting Twilight a dirty look. He hated to be rude to a princess, but he expected a bit more common sense from her.

"Wait, you needed those?" Rainbow asked, sheepishly.

"Wha-? Yes, I need them! What did you do with them?" He asked.

"You did say to organize the empty cardboard boxes, stack the projection reels and break down and discard the scripts…right?" Rainbow asked, nervously.

"No! I said to break down and discard the empty cardboard boxes, organize the projection reels by category of movie type and to stack the scripts!"

"Oops." Rainbow said as she landed on the floor, folding her wings as she wiggled them nervously.

"'Oops'? What do you mean, 'Oops'?"

"Well…I didn't really know how to break down the scripts, so I…shredded them."

Mr. Filmore turned pale as his wings drooped to the ground. "You. Did. What?!" His sudden shouting startled Rainbow as she jumped back into the air, whizzing around the studio before coming to a stop in front of him.

"I'm really sorry, Mr. Filmore!" She said.

"Do you know how long it's going to take for me to get all those scripts again?!"

"Um…A few days?"

"A few _weeks_! This is going to put production behind!" He said, starting to pace back and forth.

An assistant on set brought a glass of water over to him. He accepted it before sitting down in his chair to drink it, taking deep breathes to try and calm down.

"Yoo hoo, Mr. Director! I have your costumes ready!" Rarity's voice rang through the studio as she trotted over to him, dragging a clothes stand with outfits on it behind her with her magic.

"Oh, good. Let me see them."

"Certainly." She said. She levitated the costumes into the air, as the ponies around her gasped. "I know. They're absolutely breath-taking, aren't they?"

"You mean, they're absolutely _wrong_!" Mr. Filmore said, his face starting to become a light shade of red as he was becoming angrier and angrier by the second.

"What? Why, what's wrong with them?"

"For one thing, the costumes I preordered didn't have jewels on them! All I asked you to do was make _slight_ alterations to them!" He said.

"Yes, but the old ones looked so drab, I just had to spruce them up a bit."

"A bit? You call this a bit?!" He said, grabbing one of the drawings he had for a costume, which was meant to be a peasant costume, and held it next to the one Rarity had altered. Instead of being a simple dress, with some tatters at the bottom, it looked like an outfit a noble would wear.

"Oh, well, I see. I guess I got a bit carried away in my alterations."

"Can you fix them?"

"I would love to, but…I can't."

"Why not?"

"I had to cut them quite extensively when I altered them and then sew the pieces back together and-"

"So, you're telling me, I have order all new costumes?"

"No. I'd be happy to do it myself, free of charge, of course."

"How long will it take?"

"Let me see." She went over to the drawings he had for each costume, looking them over. "About a month, for all of them."

"A month?! I needed them today for a reason! Between this and the scripts, this is going to put me so behind!"

He then saw Fluttershy up near the rafters. "Fluttershy, can I talk to you for a moment?" He asked.

"Oh, um, right away, sir." Fluttershy said as she gently flew down to him. "What is it?"

"Did you get the critics I asked for?"

"Well, I was going to," She said.

"Going to? What do you mean by that?" He asked.

"When I went to go talk to them about it, they were so cynical and mean, that I decided to get some critics that will be able to do the job, maybe even better than they can."

"I guess I should at least meet them. Where are they?" He asked, glancing around the studio.

"They're right up here." Fluttershy flew up to the rafters and pulled back part of the curtain to reveal a bat and an eagle on the curtain rod.

"Who…are they?" He asked.

"These are new critics. Bats have exceptional hearing, they'll be able to help with the audio. Eagles have amazing eyesight and will be able to spot any little mistake."

"I can't have animals as my critics!" He exclaimed, his face bright red from anger.

"Why not?"

"For one thing, I can't understand them and nopony is going to want to see a production critiqued by animals! I'd be a laughing stock! You know what? This is too much for me! Let's just call it a day and go home! Somepony bring me a Hayvil for this headache, please." He said.

"Y'all takin' a break? Just in time. I just finished setting up the refreshments for everypony." Applejack said as she walked up to them.

"We're actually finished for the day, but thanks. I'll get something on my way out." He said, walking past them and to the reception hall.

"What's got his feathers all bent out of shape?" Applejack asked.

"We've all made mistakes today that will put the documentary on delay." Twilight said.

"Aw, shucks. Well, that's just too bad. At least, we don't got to worry about upsettin' him no more today."

A loud bang and high pitched whistling sound was heard, as well as a male scream. They ran to the reception hall to see Mr. Filmore covered in confetti and an overly excited Pinkie Pie in front of him.

"To correct you, Ms. Pie. The documentary is far from coming out now. So, if you'll excuse me," he said, pushing her to the side with his wing "I'm going to go take some Hayvil and take a nap."

"Okie dokie loki!" Pinkie said, cheerfully before walking over to the others. "Someone sure is a grumpy puss. You think if I sing my smile song, it'll turn that scowl upside down?"

"No, I don't think that will help. Let's head home." Twilight said. The others nodded before they left the studio

"I sure am excited for this documentary. I feel it's good if other pony folk know what Equestria had been through." Applejack said.

"I agree. It's going to be absolutely fabulous! Even if he won't use my costume changes, I know the production will still be top notch!" Rarity said.

"Everypony should know what makes our nation such a wonderful place to live. It's had its hardships, but we've persevered." Twilight said.

"Thanks to us! As long as Equestria has us, no pony will be able to come close to destroying it!" Rainbow said.

"It's not just us. It's everypony. As long as everypony all throughout Equestria does his or her best to maintain the harmony and peace, no harm will come to Equestria." Twilight responded.

"You all are right. I feel very lucky to live in Equestria, don't all of you?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yup! It's most awesomest place in the history of ever!" Pinkie said.

"Yes, it is." Twilight said.

They walked through the streets of Ponyville, saying goodnight to each other as they parted ways. Twilight went back to her castle, taking admiration in how peaceful everything seemed. As she opened her front door, she took one last look at the perfect stillness of the night and smiled.

"We are truly lucky." She said before entering her castle to retire to her bedroom for the night. Little did she know that trouble was brewing that would create an evil so dark, it would threaten the balance and peace forever.

Up in Canterlot Castle, a white male Earth pony with a short black mane and tail, a beaker cutie mark, and wearing a lab coat was walking back to his lab. He had a small satchel with him as he looked around to make sure nopony was following him.

"Good evening, Harold." His body stiffened as he heard Princess Celestia to his right. She appeared to have just come out of a meeting of some kind.

"Good evening, Princess Celestia. How are you doing?" He asked, smiling politely at her.

"I am well. How are you? I know you've been working hard lately." She said.

"I am well, too, and yes, I've been very busy." He said.

She nodded softly. "May I ask what it is you are working on currently?" She asked as she glanced at his satchel.

He became nervous when she asked him that, and when she looked at the satchel he was wearing, which had the ingredients he needed for what he was doing, he became even more nervous.

"I'm researching how magic in species other than unicorns and alicorns work. From Tirek's attack, it is evident that the other two pony races have magic too, and I'm trying to find out how their bodies store and use this magic." He said.

"Sounds very interesting. I shall leave you to your work. Have a good night." She said.

"You too, Princess." He said. He waved as she walked away and disappeared around a corner. He took a deep breath.

" _That was close! If she knew what I was actually doing, she would probably be furious with me. Normally I wouldn't go to extremes like this, but I have to make this discovery!"_ He continued back to his lab. He put the satchel down and pulled out a jar with a light blue liquid, some black powder, and a small bottle with blue sparkling dust in it. He pulled the book out that he had been investigating and trying to use. It was a black book that had a red horse skull with black flames around it on the cover and the bottom of each page in the book. It was filled with dark rituals and forbidden spells. He knew he shouldn't be tampering with it, but this was too important for him not to try it. He opened up the book to the page he needed. The page he was looking at was a ritual that was said to allow non-unicorn species to use unicorn magic. He figured that if Earth ponies could utilize the magic, they would be able to grow crops at a much faster rate, but that wasn't the only reason. Deep down, he'd felt like another reason had been driving him to try this risky method, but he didn't know what it could be. He decided to focus as he started to read the instructions in the book.

"Let's see here. After putting the ashes from burned wheat in the bottom of the clay pot, pour one cup of sea pony tears, one grounded up Pegasus feather and a sprinkle of dust from a unicorn horn. Mix well and then say the following incantation." He emptied his satchel onto the table, to see what he had. "I have the wheat, sea pony tears and the unicorn horn dust. I don't have the Pegasus feather. Great. I knew I was forgetting something when I went to the black market today." He said, closing the book with a frustrated sigh.

"Something wrong, Harold?" He turned around to see a pink Pegasus with a curly red mane, light green eyes and a band-aid for a cutie mark walk over to him.

"No, Scarlet. I'm just following up on some research I was doing for Princess Celestia. Don't know why the princess needs a magic advisor, but here I am." He said, shoving the book under the tablecloth with his hind hoof, while nuzzling her. "What are you doing down here though? I thought you'd be in the medical wing?"

"I'm on break right now," she said, smiling as she nuzzled him back. "I brought you something, since I know how you get when you're absorbed in your studies." She reached into the satchel and pulled out a sandwich in a clear plastic bag, before giving it to him.

"A hay sandwich, with cherry spread, on oat bread." He said, with a huge smile since it was his favorite kind of sandwich. He took the bag and put it on the table.

"With the crust removed." Scarlet added.

"Thanks, babe. You know me so well," he said as he hugged her.

"You're welcome, love." She said as she hugged him back. "My break is almost up. I'll see you later." He watched her leave the room. He noticed she didn't close the door fully, and went over to push it shut.

He turned to face the table. He looked around, checking his surroundings to make sure Scarlet had left. Thinking he was finally alone again, he put the pink feather he'd taken from her wing while they hugged and put it into a manual grinder. He cranked the pedals as it cut the feather up into fine pieces. "That should be good enough," He said. He decided to eat the sandwich Scarlet brought for him, before continuing to work.

Once he finished, he pulled the book out and opened to the page. He used a Bunsen burner to turn the wheat to ash, and put it in the bottom of the pot. He then poured in the sea pony tears, put the feather in before adding a bit of blue unicorn horn dust. He took a small stick in his mouth and mixed the components. Finally, he was at the part he dreaded the most, but knew if it worked, would be an amazing feat.

"Okay, here goes nothing…or everything."

He started the incantation as he watched the clay pot. The pot shook a bit before red and black smoke started to billow out of it. He became nervous, but pushed himself to finish it. Once the last of the incantation left his lips, the smoke gathered itself up, hovering in a huge ball above his head. He watched it, wondering what was going on, before it dove at him, enveloping him before he could react.

"Wh-What's happening?!" He shouted, as he was blinded by the smoke which he could feel sitting heavily on his coat. The darkness covered his eyes, blinding him as he could feel it seeping into his brain, causing him to scream in pain. After a few agonizing moments, he blacked out.


	2. Chapter 2

He slowly opened his eyes as he realized he was laying on his side. He stood up, shaking the fuzziness from his head before looking around. He could see something red off in the distance, but other than that, there was nothing but black, empty space as far as the eye could see.

"Hello? Is there anypony there?" He called out into the void. He took a step forward, and felt solid ground underneath his hooves, even though he couldn't see it. He walked through his dismal surroundings.

"Where am I?" He asked aloud.

"You are in my domain." He stopped in his tracks as he heard an ominous voice answer him.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" He said, trying to hide his fear.

"There's no need to be afraid. I only wish to help you." He shielded his eyes as a bright light appeared before him. Once he was able to see as the light dissipated, he saw a red orb with black energy around it floating in front of him. Even though it was small, the energy he felt coming off of it was staggering. It almost felt like the energy could knock him over just from being near it. He slowly approached the orb, being very cautious.

"Help me? What do you mean?" Harold asked.

"You want power, recognition, and fame, correct? You want to be remembered for changing the world. I can give all that to you and more! You just have to trust me." Harold watched as the orb slowly circled him as it spoke.

"Why should I trust you? You reek of evil and malicious intentions."

"Because I know what you truly desire. You only think you want to help others because that's what you've been told to do. Deep down, you want to watch Equestria fall to its knees, and falter."

"No, that's not true! I would never want anything bad to happen to Equestria!" He said.

Suddenly, the air around them vibrated before seeing three white orbs appear in front of him. He saw the red orb wrap around the three white orbs and he felt the dark energy from the orb increase. "What was that? What did you just do?"

"That's right, you're oblivious to what's going on out there. Let me show you."The entity generated a small screen that showed Harold being suspended, comatose in a red force field. It showed a guard try to punch and break it, only to end up getting stuck. Two other guards tried to pull their friend free, but they became stuck to him. Suddenly, the three of them fell to the ground, before the force field vibrated slightly.

"I just fed off the energy from those three souls. You see, I am a Soul Harvester. I gain power by absorbing the energy released when a soul is destroyed through consumption. It's such a pity mortals let their life energy go to waste, so I take it and put it to good use, like helping ponies like you."

"I don't believe that! You were just telling me lies about how I have ill-will towards Equestria! What have I done to convey that?" Harold asked.

"When in the presence of the princesses, you can't stand to look at them, can you? When the special Elements of Harmony, are celebrated for defeating a mighty foe, you feel disappointment, don't you? Don't say you don't. You know it to be true."

Harold couldn't believe what the entity was saying, but what made it even worse was his inability to refute what it was saying. He had felt disappointment in and disdain for the ones Equestria glorified so much. From what he'd heard, they only achieve victory through luck or cheap tactics. In his opinion, Equestria should have fallen each time.

"No, I love Equestria, just like every pony else! It has been nothing but good to me! You're just trying to trick me!"Harold said. Despite doing so, he couldn't shake the feeling he was lying to himself.

"You only believe that because she has manipulated you to think that way, just like everypony else in this world. Equestria has done nothing but stomp on your hopes and dreams, trying to rip the foundation out from under your hooves. I know you can be better than what you currently are: a magic advisor. I can see your full potential. But I am weak. Help me to become strong and I shall give you what you desire and more."The entity reached out a black tendril. "Do we have a deal?"

Harold was hesitant, and surprised he was considering accepting the evil entity's offer.

" _He's just trying to trick me! I haven't been manipulated! I should just walk away…but if I do this, I can make Equestria a better place, and go down in history for my discovery. I have to do it. I've come too far to turn back now. I can find a way to have the same results without the need for a dark ritual later,"_ He thought.

He tentatively reached out a hoof and grasped the tendril to shake it and seal the deal. As he touched it, the tendril snaked around his wrist and up his arm.

"Hahaha! You foal! You really thought I was going to help you?"The entity asked, laughing maniacally as the black energy wrapped around his entire body, holding him in place. When he opened his mouth to protest the entity stabbing him in the back, the red orb flew into his mouth, hitting the back of his throat and causing him to swallow it. His body started to glow a fierce red color as he could feel magical energy flowing through him, but could also feel the corruption spreading as his body absorbed the black energy that had been holding him in place.

"No, get off of me! Leave me alone!" Harold shouted.

"Let us merge and become one! One powerful being to rule them all!" The entity declared.

Suddenly, the barrier vibrated strongly as Harold felt the flow of magical energy inside his body increase greatly.

"That wasn't a death, but the energy from that magical blast," the entity said.

" _Magic blast? Someone's trying to save me then! But who?"_ Harold wondered.

"Is this alicorn magic? It feels so wonderful! I want more of it!" Harold couldn't tell if he thought that or the entity said it as the darkness finish consuming his body before it started to affect his mind. He felt it bore its way into his mind, finding every crack and crevasse it could to snuff out any pure thoughts he had. He tried to resist it, but it was too painful as he cried out in agony. Finally, the ritual was completed as the entity merged with him and he found himself back in the lab again. He looked around to see a few guards, Princess Celestia and Scarlet standing in front of him. When he saw Celestia, he could feel a deep, dark hatred for her rising to surface, but tried to suppress it. He knew he needed to get to the bottom of what the entity had done to him.

"What's going on? Why is the princess here?" He asked.

Scarlet glanced over at Celestia, who nodded to give her approval for Scarlet to approach him. When she did, he noticed she seemed weary of him. This made him very worried and start to feel regret towards going through with the dark ritual.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Take a look for yourself." She said, before grabbing the floor length mirror in the room and pulling it in front of him. He had to keep himself from screaming as he saw his appearance.

"No, this can't be real! This has to be some kind of nightmare!" He said, panic and fear in his voice.

Scarlet put a hoof on his shoulder. "Calm down. It'll be alright. I'll try to explain what happened after you completed the ritual." She said, before taking a deep breath and telling him everything that transpired after he finished the incantation.

Scarlet had pushed the door open a crack after he closed it and watched him as he put the ingredients into the pot, wondering what he was up to. She stared in shock as she saw him he was using dark magic and as the cloud enveloped him.

"Harold!" She flew into the room, trying to get the black cloud off of him, but couldn't grab it, no matter how hard she tried. She was suddenly knocked back by a small blast of energy, as she slammed into the wall. She groaned as she stood up, swaying a bit before seeing that Harold was being suspended in the air inside of a red magical barrier. His eyes were closed and he wasn't moving at all. She noticed the flowers in a vase near the barrier shrivel up and die. The barrier shimmered and gave off an eerie, dark aura. She knew Harold was in trouble and zoomed through the castle. "Somepony, anypony, help!" She shouted repeatedly as she looked around for any guards. She felt she needed to find help as quickly as possible. She didn't know how much time she'd have before that energy field did something to him.

She saw five guard standing in the hallway, talking amongst themselves. She flew up to them and landed, breathing heavily as she tried to catch her breath.

"Please…you have to help! Harold, the magic advisor…is in trouble…!" She said.

"Lead the way." One of the guards said. She nodded and quickly led them back to the room. They looked at the magical barrier, before one of the guards unsheathed his sword and poked it. Seeing nothing happen, he put his sword back before hitting it as hard as he possibly could, trying to shatter it. As soon as his hoof made contact with it, his body gained a slight red glow and he couldn't pull his hoof off of it. He pulled at his arm, trying to free himself. The barrier glowed as the guard was pulled towards it. However, the rest of his arm did not appear inside it. It completely disappeared as his body was absorbed by the magic barrier, causing the guard to scream in terror. Two of the other guards grabbed their comrade and tried to help free him, but when they touched him, their bodies received the same strange, red glow and found they were stuck to him as all three were absorbed by the magical barrier. The barrier seemed to strengthen even more afterwards. The remaining two guards were frozen in shock after seeing three of their own get erased from existence.

"Don't just stand there! Do something!" Scarlet yelled at them. They immediately snapped out of it as they regained their composure.

"We should alert the princess right away." One of them said.

"Agreed. Let's go!" They ran off to find Princess Celestia. They knew it was late, and that normally the princess would be headed to bed but it was too urgent to wait until morning.

Princess Celestia had just finished signing some scrolls to allow dignitaries to have what they requested. She was very tired, and after lowering the sun, was glad to see the moon rise into the sky as it was a sign her sister would be the one to go to for anything that went wrong. She headed towards her quarters, her mind only on the peaceful sleep that awaited her.

"Princess Celestia!" The two guards ran up to her, bowing as they stopped.

"How may I help you?" She asked, trying to hide the tiredness that had settled deeply into her face as she addressed them.

"There is a crisis, and we are in dire need of your help!" One of them said.

"What's happened?"

"The magic advisor was messing with something he shouldn't have and now is trapped in some kind of magical barrier. While investigating it, three of our soldiers were absorbed by the mysterious orb."

Celestia's fatigue disappeared when she heard that as her expression became very serious. "Show me." She said.

"Yes, Princess. Right this way." They led her to the lab, where Scarlet was still watching Harold anxiously. When she saw Princess Celestia, she was put at ease. She walked up to her and bowed.

"I witnessed what happened Princess Celestia. I would have tried to stop him if I had realized this is what would happen." Scarlet said.

"Tell me everything you saw." Celestia said.

"He took a feather from my wing, which I hadn't noticed he'd taken when he hugged me. He ground it up before putting it into that clay pot on the table with some other ingredients," she said, pointing at the now empty pot. "He then started to recite some words and the pot started smoking. After he finished, the smoke attacked him. I tried to get it off of him and that's when the barrier appeared around him. Please, I beg of you, save him! I don't know what this thing is doing to him!" She had tears in her eyes before turning away, not wanting Celestia to see her cry. Celestia could tell she was deeply in love with him and put a hoof on Scarlet's shoulder to calm her.

"I will do what I can." She said. She lit up her horn and fired it at the shield. The shield absorbed her magic. Immediately, the inside of the barrier started to crackle with black energy that jumped from the barrier and into Harold's body. The crackling slowly grew in intensity and frequency. As it did, the red horse skull encased in black flames that was on the ritual page floated into the air before splitting down the middle, creating a mirrored image. The symbols then implanted themselves where Harold's beaker cutie mark was. Harold opened his eyes, crying out in pain from the cursed cutie mark being branded onto him before his beaker cutie mark faded from existence, a new one in its place. It changed his coat from pure white to blood red. His mane and tail stayed the same color but were more spiked at the tips, giving him a slightly scary look and his brown eyes had turned red as well. The barrier then disappeared as he was put back on the ground, before becoming conscious and aware of his surroundings.

"And here we are now." She said.

"I can't believe I did this!" He said, before rushing over to the book, flipping through it. "There has to be an antidote or something in here!"

"I'm afraid there is not." Celestia said. He looked up at her as she spoke. "This is an ancient and dangerous power, forbidden from use since there is no way to reverse it once the ritual is complete."

"But, you're an alicorn. Surely, you know some kind of spell to change me back! Please!" He begged.

"I do not have such knowledge. While I may be an alicorn, knowledge does not come with status." She responded.

" _So, even a princess doesn't know everything there is to know about magic? She probably does know and isn't telling me just so she can watch me suffer. That's all she does on her throne is watch everypony else do her job while she just looks pretty for the crowd. Self-absorbed, egomaniac whorse..."_ Harold thought to himself, before Celestia speaking again interrupted his thoughts.

"However, I do know of four wizard ponies who may have a solution." She said.

" _Of course she waits to mention that just so she can seem wise. Who would fall for this act?"_ He thought.

"That's wonderful news!" Scarlet said, bowing to Celestia as Celestia smiled back. Even that slight smile was enough to make him cringe with every fiber of his being. He'd love to see Celestia at a loss for what to do, for once. Scarlet turned to face Harold, as she noticed that he did not seem to share the same gratitude or enthusiasm. "Is that not wonderful news, Harold?" She asked.

"Oh, it's…great. Thank you…Princess Celestia." He said, bowing quickly before walking over to a bookshelf and taking a random book off one of the shelves, before opening it and pretending to read the book.

Celestia left the room, escorted by the guards that had been in the room. Once they left, Scarlet walked over to Harold.

"Are you alright? It's unlike you to disrespect the princess like that." She said.

"Did you ever think that maybe there are some ponies who can't stand the princesses?"

"You can't? But why? The princesses do their best to protect us and-"

"No. They do their best to protect themselves and their little reputations. When something does go wrong, they're either useless or they can't be found. They're lazy, over-glorified figureheads." He said, spitefully.

"You can't mean that!" She said, shocked he would say such horribly cruel things about the princesses.

"I do." He said, putting the book back on the shelf. He looked at her, glaring a bit. "You aren't suggesting I kiss up to the princesses like everypony else, are you?"

"No, of course not! I'm just worried about you. You aren't acting like your usual self." She said.

"Don't lie to me. Do you take me for a fool? Think I won't be able to see you're trying to manipulate me?!" He asked, walking towards her menacingly.

"Babe, I'm not trying to do anything bad to you! It was just a misunderstanding!" She said, hovering in the air as she backed up, trembling a bit. "Please, you're scaring me…"

As he walked towards her, arcs of red energy could be seen jumping out of his coat, as his anger and hate fueled his newfound magical abilities. He noticed the energy before sitting on his hind legs and putting his front hooves together. As he opened them, a small red ball of energy appeared.

"It worked! It actually worked!" He exclaimed as he used his mind to manipulate the energy and make it change shape and size. He pointed a hoof at a book on one of the shelves, and focused as it glowed before pulling it towards himself. He then opened the book with his magic, turning the pages.

"What did you do?" Scarlet asked, as she watched him use magic.

"I've given myself the ability to use unicorn based magic. Isn't that fantastic?" He asked, before putting the book back where it was.

"Yes, but you probably shouldn't use the powers until Celest-"

"I…shouldn't use them? What gives you the right to tell me what I can and cannot do?! I have a tremendous breakthrough, and you act like I should be ashamed of my accomplishment! How dare you!" He said, fury raging in his eyes as he glared at her.

"I'm not saying that at all! Please, calm down!" She begged, but could see his fury and hatred increasing in his eyes. He put his hooves together, creating another energy ball. "Maybe you'll appreciate my new power once you've experienced it!" He said and threw the magic at her. He watched the ball miss as she flew to the side. The ball tore a large hole in the wall. He charged up another ball to try again, but Scarlet bolted from the room, flying through the castle as quickly as possible, trying to find Princess Celestia. He smiled wickedly before running after her, using his magic to increase his speed so he could keep up with her, feeding off of her fear as he saw her look back at him with a terrified look on her face before flying faster.

Scarlet got to the throne room, landing as she burst into the room. A few of the guards walked over to her, looking around for the danger she was running from. Princess Celestia was sitting at her throne, conversing with four unicorns and looked up as Scarlet came in.

"Princess, please, help me!" She cried as she landed on the floor and walked towards Celestia

"What is the matter?" Celestia asked.

"It's Harold. He's gone insane! You have to help him!" She said.

Princess Celestia looked up as Harold ran into the room. The guards looked at him, before charging him and trying to apprehend him. A red ring appeared around Harold before red tendrils shot out, grabbing the guards and holding them up in the air.

"Put them down, Harold!" Celestia demanded.

"Very well, I shall." He said, before the tendrils reached into the guard's chests, pulling white orbs out of them as their eyes became glazed over. The tendrils wrapped around the souls and absorbed them as Harold's eyes flashed a bit as his power increased. He dropped the guard's bodies to the ground. He ran up behind Scarlet and grabbed her tightly, chuckling darkly as he watched her squirm and struggle to get free from his clutches.

"Release her!" Celestia demanded, looking at him angrily as the four wizards lit up their horns, before collectively sending a blast of energy in his direction. He created a shield around himself that deflected the magic, before lowering it.

"Is that all you've got? Pathetic!" He said to the wizards, before looking at Celestia. "I will release her. Release her mind from the grip you have on it. Nopony should live in a mind controlled state, wouldn't you agree?" He then pinned Scarlet down as he generated more red tendrils appeared, wrapping around Scarlet as she cried in terror. She struggled hard, trying to throw him off as she noticed the tendril started to dig into her chest and she gasped as she started to look pale.

"Princess, please, help me!" Scarlet cried.

"She is not being mind-controlled! Stop and think about what you are doing!" Celestia said.

"Yes, she is. Just like everypony else. They all admire you and bow down before you so easily, without a second thought. Puppets like that should be released from their strings, don't you agree?" Harold asked.

He felt Scarlet's body jerk before she stopped moving as the tendril pulled out a pink orb from her chest. He wondered why hers was a different color, but shrugged as he absorbed her soul, getting more energy from it than the others had. He then levitated her body and threw it to the side before walking towards Celestia, blocking magic blasts from the wizards, as they continued to try and stop his advance.

"You accuse me of mind control? I would never do such a heinous act! Then, to take the life of an innocent pony, what kind of monster are you?" Celestia asked, looking at him with horror and disgust.

"It was the only way to free her. Such a sad death, but I will make sure the energy is put to good use. Now, I shall take what is rightfully mine!" He then charged up an attack and blasted Celestia. She dodged the attack, seeing it blow her throne to pieces. She then sent a beam of magic at him. He countered with one of his own, colliding with hers as it pushed her beam back until they were even. He could see Celestia struggling to keep up an even duel with him. He closed his eyes and fell to his knees as her beam pushed his down, getting closer and closer to him. Just before it would have hit him, he opened his eyes and smiled mischievously.

"Just kidding." He said. He stood up and pushed his magic all the way to the tip of her horn in an instant. There was an explosion before Princess Celestia plummeted to the floor. The wizards ran over to her, gasping as they saw her horn had been cracked by the blow as she twitched from the pain.

"Stop him…before it's too late..." She said, barely able to keep consciousness. The unicorns turned to face him before surrounding him.

"Sending others to do the work for you, I see. You're even more pitiful than I thought." He commented.

"Leave the princess alone! You have no right to talk to her like that!"

He zapped the unicorn that said that to him, watching as she was pushed back, even though she shielded his attack. The others attacked him as well, which he blocked.

"Come on. I'm already bored." He said.

He then attacked all four of them at once, knocking them down.

"Even four wizards don't stand a chance against me. This power is outstanding!" He said.

He caught off guard as a beam of dark blue magic hit him from above, pinning him to the ground. He tried to stand up, but couldn't. He looked up to see Luna descend from the rafters, her magic continuing to hold him.

"Quickly, friends, do away with him before he can escape!" She said.

"What should we do?" One of the wizards asked.

"He is too dangerous to leave alone." Another responded.

"We should separate the magic from him and seal it away."

"But what if he comes for it, again?"

"We must ensure that never happens as well."

They all nodded, knowing what they must do before lighting up their horns in unison and chanting a spell together. Harold could feel his powers waning as he struggled harder against Luna's magic. He saw a red orb floating above him as he felt empty inside as they took the magic from him.

"No! I won't let you take my glory from me! No matter what you do to me, or where you send me, I will return and your souls shall be mine!" He declared. As the magic and corruption left his body, he returned to his original appearance. They then cast a spell to wipe his memory of the event of ever having the dark powers, hoping that would be enough to make sure he did not go looking for them.

The four of them then opened a blue portal. They levitated him into the air, before pushing him into it. Once he was in, they closed it. They then turned their attention to the floating red and black orb they were struggling to hold in place.

"What do we do with all this evil energy?"

One of them grabbed a medallion from a small chest he had with him.

"We seal it away in here, then hide it away where nopony will be able to get it!"

"Let's hurry! I don't know if I can hold it much longer!"

They cast their magic on the medallion as they activated it, making it glow a soft, white color. They pushed the ball of evil magic against the medallion. The white glow of the medallion turned red as the magic was forced inside of it. They watched as it slowly became smaller and smaller as the medallion absorbed it. Once all the magic was in it, a flaming horse skull appeared on the front of the medallion, but they also noticed the medallion acquired a crack in it during the fusion process.

"Will that hold?" One of the wizards asked, knowing that cracked medallions can malfunction.

"It should be fine." Another said. "I shall take it and hide it."

They nodded before putting the medallion in a small, pocket sized box and locking it with a special lock. The one who volunteered took the box and ran off to complete the task of hiding it. The other three walked over to Celestia, who was still on the ground, slightly out of it.

"Is he gone?" She asked.

"Yes, he has been dealt with, hopefully for good." One of them said.

Luna rushed to Celestia's side.

"Tia, are you alright?" She asked, worried as she helped Celestia to her feet.

"I am fine. Thank you." She was in a lot of pain as she could feel her horn had been damaged, but did her best to keep a brave face.

"We should have your horn looked at, at once!" Luna said.

"I do not think it is necessary." Celestia said. "It does not hurt too much."

"Well, if you are sure, I suppose we can forgo going to the medical wing."

When Luna mentioned the medical wing, Celestia then remembered what happened to Scarlet. She looked over at Scarlet's body. She felt heartbroken for the pony, who's lover had just mercilessly killed her. Luna felt the same sadness Celestia did before asking, "What shall we do?"

"We should make sure she has a proper burial. She did not deserve to die such a cruel death." Celestia responded.

"Agreed." Luna said. They then ordered the guards that just arrived at the throne room to take her body and prepare her to be buried. They nodded before picking up the body. When they did, one of them put her down again.

"Wait, I felt a pulse!" He said.

The others put her body down, as another one of them put an ear to her chest and felt for a pulse.

"He's right! It's faint, but it's there!" He said.

Princess Celestia tried to use her horn, but caused her pain from her horn being damaged during the fight.

"Allow me." Princess Luna said.

Princess Luna walked over to her and lit up her horn. Scarlet's body glowed slight as Luna closed her eyes. She then did the same for the guards Harold took souls from as well.

"They are alive, but they are mere husks. It leads me to believe that if we are able to extract the souls from the evil entity, only then will they be able to be resurrected." Luna said.

"Understood." Princess Celestia said, before turning to the wizards. "Will you be able to get the souls from the medallion?"

"I don't believe so, without risking the entity escaping as well." One of them said.

"Very well. Take the bodies to the medical wing and keep them alive until we can get the souls back." Celestia ordered the guards.

"Yes, Princess!" The guards said, before picking up the bodies and taking them to the medical wing. Princess Celestia walked to the window, looking out over Equestria as she wondered where the portal sent him, hoping he did not fall into evil hooves that would resurrect his memories of the events that had transpired.


	3. Chapter 3

Twilight woke up, hearing a strange noise come from one of the rooms nearby. It sounded like something fell. She lit up her horn so she could see as she headed out of her bedroom and into the hallway. As she left her room, she almost ran into Spike.

"Sorry, Spike. I almost didn't see you there. Did you hear that noise too?" She asked.

"It's alright, Twilight. Yeah, I did. Sounded like it came from the library to me. You think somepony broke in? What do we do if there is a burglar?" Spike asked, making himself more and more anxious and scared.

Twilight wrapped an arm around him to comfort him. "I'll be right by your side the entire time. I won't let anything bad happen to you." She said.

"Thanks, Twilight." He said as he calmed down a bit and smiled up at her.

"No problem." She said.

She led the way as she looked around the hallway for signs of anything that was broken or tampered with. She didn't see anything out of place as they came to the doors that led to the library.

" _This is the room the sound came from. Why would an intruder be looking for anything in my library? Unless the pony is trying to steal my books! Could that be it? I know I have a vast collection, but the pony could just ask! I'd gladly give out a book to a pony who wanted its knowledge!"_ She thought. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves before pushing the doors open.

As they entered the library, they stopped in their tracks as they saw a pony laying in the middle of the floor. Twilight and Spike looked at each other before cautiously approaching the unknown pony. "Hello?" Twilight asked, but the pony didn't budge. She cmeat he'd him closely and could see the steady rise and fall of his chest. She breathed a sigh of relief that the pony wasn't dead, just unconscious. Twilight poked him with her hoof to try and wake him. She saw him start to stir and open his eyes slightly.

"Hey, are you alright?" She asked.

Harold felt disoriented and confused as he slowly opened his eyes, blinking to bring them into focus. As he did, a purple alicorn came into view and a purple and green baby dragon.

"Hello? Can you hear me?" She asked. He slowly stood up, feeling lightheaded. He looked around, seeing he was inside a room that contained small library. He noticed the walls were made purely of purple crystal.

"Yeah, I can. Where am I?" He asked.

"You're in my castle, in Ponyville. I'm Twilight Sparkle. Who are you and where did you come from?"

"Twilight Sparkle? As in _Princess_ Twilight Sparkle?"

"The one and only. I'm Spike, her number one assistant." Spike said.

"You can just call me Twilight though." Twilight responded.

He didn't know how to feel or react. He had appeared in _the_ Twilight Sparkle's castle somehow. He felt like he was intruding on her property. He wondered how he got here in the first place. "You still haven't told me your name." She said.

"Oh, sorry. I'm Harold. It's a pleasure to meet you, Pri-." He stopped as he remembered she didn't want to be addressed by her title. "Twilight. As for how I got here, to be honest, I haven't got a clue. I remember working on a potion of some kind. I guess I messed up and ended up here. I'm so sorry about that! I didn't mean to intrude!"

"That's alright. I don't mind at all. It's rare that I get visitors other than my friends. Can I get you anything? Something to drink or eat?" She asked.

His stomach growled audibly, causing him to blush from embarrassment. "I could use some food and drink, if it isn't too much trouble."

"No trouble at all. Spike, can you get us something?"

"I'm on it! One fantastic dinner, coming right up!" He said, before running out of the room and to the kitchen.

Spike came back in, pushing a cart that had pancakes, muffins, tea, milk, juice and more. "I wasn't sure what to get, so I brought a little of everything. I hope that's okay." He said.

"I thought you were making dinner? This looks like breakfast." Harold said.

"Yeah and nothing beats having breakfast for dinner!" Spike said, before taking some pancakes for himself. "Also, I was in the mood for pancakes."

Twilight and Harold chuckled at that, before starting to eat. Harold grabbed for himself some of the pancakes and some milk.

"Where in Equestria are you from?" Twilight asked as they ate.

"I'm from Canterlot, born and raised. You're from there too, right?" He asked.

"Yes, I am. I grew up there, but now I live in Ponyville." She said.

"How do you like it here? Must be very different from the capital."

"Very different, but in a good way. I've met so many wonderful ponies here! Do you have an occupation?"

"Yes. I'm Princess Celestia's magic advisor."

Twilight looked at him with a confused expression. "Magic advisor? I didn't know she had one of those."

"I didn't either, but she asked me if I wanted the job and I accepted it. Not sure why she asked an Earth pony to do something more fitting for a unicorn to do, but I'm guessing it's because of my special talent. Whatever the reason, I like the job a lot. I learn a lot because of it."

"That's amazing! I'll have to ask Celestia about it the next time I see her."

He continued to chat with her and Spike, finding himself to like having her company since she was a great conversationalist.

After he finished breakfast, he stood up to go put his plate on the tray Spike had brought in, when Twilight spoke to him.

"I remember you saying that Celestia chose you for the position of magic advisor based off of your special talent. What is it?" She asked.

"I'm a scientist. Potions and making various concoctions are my speciality as my cutie mark symbolizes." He said.

"Um, what cutie mark?" She asked.

He stopped and gave her a puzzled look. "The beaker on my flank, of course."

"I don't see one." She said.

He looked down at his flank and his jaw instantly dropped. His flank was completely bare. Not a trace of a cutie mark anywhere on it.

"What? I swear, I have a beaker for a cutie mark, or at least, I had one!" He felt panicked since he didn't know why he was a blank flank again. He didn't know it was possible for one to lose their cutie mark. Was it a sign he'd done something wrong? Or his cutie mark talent, this entire time, had been wrong?

"Maybe you thought you had a cutie mark when you didn't?" Spike asked.

"No, I remember how I got it." He said. "It was during a science fair at the school I went to in Canterlot. One of my fellow classmates was having trouble with his project: a volcano. No matter what chemicals he put in it, he couldn't make it erupt. When he was about to be disqualified for having a project that didn't work, I stepped in. I found the error in his formula for the volcano eruption and put in the correct ingredients and it worked. The volcano made a mess of the judges and table, but it won first prize and since I assisted with the project, I also got a blue ribbon as well. My cutie mark appeared and I've had it ever since. Well, up until right now."

"Interesting. I've never heard of a pony losing a cutie mark before. Maybe I can help you get it back. I'm pretty well versed in potion making. Maybe if you make a few of the tougher ones from one of the books I have, you'll get it back." She suggested.

"It's worth a shot." He said. For some reason, he felt it wouldn't work, but he had try something. It was embarrassing for an adult pony to go around with a bare flank. He knew there were many, but they were judged differently by others. Some saw it as a sign of laziness; others saw it as a sign of somepony who gave up on their dreams. He didn't want to be viewed that way!

He watched as Twilight set up her chemistry supplies and put a bunch of different tubes of liquids in front of him. The first thing he noticed was the fact that none of them were labeled.

"How am I going to be able to tell which ingredient is which?" He asked.

"I was reading a book called "The Making of a Cutie Mark" and it stated that when a pony finds their true talent, it's something that comes naturally to them and the pony won't need any direction. I feel like that's a bit of a generalization, but it's a good place to start, don't you think?" She asked.

"I suppose." He said. He was very nervous. If he mixed the wrong chemicals, it could cause himself or somepony else to get hurt. He decided to trust her though, since he wanted his cutie mark back. He looked up as she shoved an open book in front of him.

"Go ahead and try to make the potion on the page." She said.

He looked and saw it was a plant growth potion. He read the ingredients and instructions in the book before picking up different potions and hoping they were the right ones as he mixed them.

Soon, he reached the final step and squeezed a drop into a plant with a seed that had just been planted. He watched as the potion hit the soil and cringed, expecting the worst. He was surprised to see a beautiful rose grow from the seed and bloom fully. He watched the plant and saw it was holding up very well and didn't show any signs of wilting.

"Great job!" Twilight said, as she clapped for him. "You did excellent!"

"That's a relief to hear." He said. He then checked his flank to see if it worked and…nothing happened. He frowned, disappointed, but also worried.

" _That should have given me my cutie mark back. Am I doing something wrong? Maybe the situation isn't correct?"_ He wondered.

"Maybe you haven't done enough? Let's try some of the others." Twilight said.

He nodded as she had him try making potion after potion. He did all of them expertly and with perfect results every time. He got to the very last potion to do in the book and grew a fresh apple from an apple seed. He looked at his flank and felt disappointed that it was still bare until he saw a small shine appear and his beaker cutie mark return.

"It worked!" He exclaimed happily.

"I'm so glad it did. I wonder why you had to go through every potion to get it, but it's great you got it back!" Twilight said.

"Good for you, Harold." Spike said, who had been sitting in a chair watching the two of them. He then got up and walked towards the cart with the dirty dishes on it. "I'll take these back to the kitchen and-whoa!" Spike slipped on a stray pancake that happened to be on the floor and fell, grabbing for the nearest thing, which happened to be the handle to the cart. It caused the cart to catapult the dishes into the air. Without thinking, and before Twilight could react, Harold ran and jumped into the air, catching the dishes and stacking them neatly on his muzzle as he balanced them effortlessly.

"Wow, that was amazing!" Spike said.

Harold then put the dishes back onto the cart. "Heh, thanks." He said. He then saw a shine out of the corner of his eye and looked at his flank to see his cutie mark had changed to a pony head balancing a hoopla hoop on its muzzle.

"Huh? What? How?" He stammered, at a loss for words.

"It…changed? I didn't see anything about that in the book I read." Twilight said.

"I think that's because they're not supposed to disappear or change!" Harold said.

"That's really strange. I wonder why it changed. I know you did that thing where you caught the plates, but I mean in a scientific sense." Twilight said.

"Speaking of science, let me get the beaker back since that was my original one." He said.

Twilight stepped aside as she let him make the potions from the book. Harold instantly noticed something was wrong. He had no idea, just from sight, what each chemical was, and more often than not, got a potion that had the wrong effect from him messing up what was supposed to go into it. The last one he did exploded, causing him to cough from the fumes.

"Are you alright?" Twilight asked.

"No…" He said, as he finished coughing. "This worked before! Why can't I do it now?"

"Maybe when your cutie mark changes, you can't go back to a previous one?" Twilight asked. "I guess you have to find your true talent."

" _So, the beaker is no longer my special talent? Then what is?!"_ He thought.

"And how exactly do I do that?"

"That's something you'll have to figure out." Twilight said.

Harold sighed a bit, but knew she was right. He was the only one who could figure out what his special talent's supposed to be.

"Since you suddenly appeared here, I assume you need a place to stay? You're welcome to stay here, if you want to." She said.

He was surprised he was offering her a place to stay. He expected her to tell him to stay in an inn in town or with somepony else. She really was much different than Princess Celestia, which he was glad to see.

"Oh, no, I couldn't. I don't want to intrude anymore than I already have." He said.

"Really, I don't mind. Stay as long as you need to." She said.

"I'll go get one of the guest rooms ready." Spike said, before running off to do that.

"Thank you so much for your hospitality." He said, with a bow before blushing as he stood up. "S-Sorry, habit."

"It's alright. It takes most ponies time to get used to the fact that I don't require them to bow to me."

She used her magic to levitate the plates they used for breakfast and put them into the cart before pushing it to the kitchen. She put the dishes in the sink to be cleaned. He followed her as he watched her use her magic as she washed the dishes. She noticed him out of the corner of her eyes and looked at him.

"Did you need something?" She asked.

"No, just… you're so different from Princess Celestia. I couldn't see her doing her own dishes." He said.

"Just because I'm a princess doesn't mean that changes who I am. It's what I keep telling the ones that insist on treating me like Celestia. I don't want to be waited on fore hoof and hind hoof. When I say that, they claim I'm just being modest, but I'm just being the pony that I am." She said.

He found her be so mysterious and amazing all at the same time. He then remembered he had a marefriend back home, and to keep his emotions in check. Spike came back in.

"The guest room is all set up!" Spike said.

"That's great! I'll show you to your room." Twilight said, before putting down the dirty dishes and cleaning rag. Harold followed her through the halls, looking around in awe at her castle.

"This place is huge! It must have taken forever to build." He said.

"It was given to me by the Tree of Harmony, where the Elements of Harmony were found and grew instantly. It is pretty magnificent." She said. She came to a stop in front of some doors at the end of the hallway they were walking in.

"Here's your room. You can let me or Spike know if you need anything." She said.

"I will. Have a good night, Twilight." He said as he smiled at her.

"Good night." Twilight said, smiling back before walking back to her room.

Harold went into the room, seeing it was a very nice guest room. It was spacious with a large bed, dresser, vanity, walk in closet and guest bathroom, complete with a tub and shower. He was really enjoying himself and decided to go to sleep. He walked over to the bed and got under the covers before falling into a deep sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

He woke up in an unfamiliar place. He looked around and was surrounded by a red dreamscape.

" _Where am I?"_ He thought as he walked through the dreamscape, as least, he thought he was. It all looked so similar, that he couldn't tell if he was actually moving anywhere, or just walking in place. He then heard a dark voice fill his head. "Hello, Harold" The voice said, before a dark silhouette of a stallion appeared in front of him.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Harold asked, backing away from him.

"I am you, and you are me. We are one, or we were, until the Princess separated us." The dark entity said.

"Well, she separated us for good reason!"

"No, she did not. She did it because she saw us as a threat to exposing how terrible a ruler she is. You know it to be true."

"No, she is not! All of princesses do their best to protect us and guide us! If she needed to separate us, then you must have been bad for me! You're obviously evil! Leave me alone!" He demanded.

"You can never escape from me, Harold. We will be reunited. It is your destiny." The voice said, before laughing manically.

Harold covered his ears as he tried to block out the voice, but couldn't. He tried to run and escape the dreamscape, but no matter how much he ran, he could still hear the voice in his head, getting louder and louder. Just as he thought his head was about to explode, he woke up.

He sat up with a jolt, cold sweat dripping down his face as he slowly caught his breath. He looked around and saw he was in the guest room Twilight had given him. He then noticed she was standing in front of him, looking at him, worriedly.

"Are you alright? I came in to tell you breakfast was ready and you were mumbling in your sleep and seemed distressed by something." She said.

"I-I'm fine. I just had a nightmare, that's all." He said.

"Did you see Princess Luna in your dream?" Twilight asked.

"No. Why?" He asked as he got out of bed.

"Oh. Just at night, she works in the dream realm where she jumps from dream to dream, usually nightmares, to help the pony work through whatever problem he or she is having that would cause the nightmare." Twilight explained.

"I see. No, she didn't appear. I assume I wasn't the only one dreaming last night and not the only pony having nightmares, so she probably just didn't get to me. Not that it matters. I doubt I'll have the dream again." He said. "Thanks for telling me about breakfast. I'll be right there. Let me just get washed up."

Twilight nodded and left the room. He went into the bathroom to wash up. He turned on the shower and sat down under the water, trying to let the warmth and steam calm his nerves. He was still worried about his cutie mark dilemma as he glanced down at the one on his flank that would be more suitable for a clown than for him. He was very unhappy about having such a silly cutie mark.

" _What if I never find out what my talent is? Will I forever be stuck with the wrong one? Or will they just never stop changing? How will I be able to hold down a job if my skills keep changing? And what was that dream about?"_ He wondered to himself. He was too focused on the questions swimming around in his head to notice his flank shimmer again.

He sighed and finished up his shower before drying off and going to the dining room for breakfast. He saw Twilight and Spike were already there and walked over to them.

"Good morning, Harold." Twilight said.

"It is a good morning, isn't it? Are you having a good morning, Twilight? How are you doing, Spike?" Harold asked as he sat down at the table. Spike smiled and gave him a thumbs up since he had a mouthful of gems from the bowl he had sitting in front of him.

"I am having a good morning so far." Twilight said. There was an assortment of breakfast foods on the table. "Please, help yourself."

Harold started to get some of the food from the table, grabbing some toasted oat bread and putting cherry jam on it before eating it. He then looked over at Spike.

"Is he…eating gems?" He asked.

"Yeah. Spike loves the taste of gems." Twilight said.

Spike swallowed before nodding. "I sure do! I think I'm the only dragon that eats gems though." Spike said. "Sapphires are my favorite."

"Why are you the only dragon that eats them?" Harold asked.

"Don't know, but more for me, I guess!" Spike said, before eating another gem.

"You sure are asking a lot of questions this morning." Twilight pointed out.

"I guess I am, aren't I?" Harold asked. _"Why can I only ask questions when I speak? Now I can only ask questions when I think too? What is going on?"_

Twilight glanced down at his flank.

"It's changed again, I see." She said.

"It has?" He looked down to see that his cutie mark had become four different sized question marks. "That would explain things, wouldn't it? How am I supposed to be able to go about my day if I can only talk in questions?"

"You have something planned?" She asked.

"I should go out and find my proper cutie mark, right? This one doesn't seem to fit me, right?"

"I do agree." Twilight said. Twilight pondered how he could communicate without asking questions constantly. "I have an idea!" She went and grabbed a dry erase board and a marker. "Try writing statements with this and see if it works."

He took the dry erase board and grabbed the marker. He pulled the top off the marker before writing on the board. He held it up, to reveal he had written, "Like this?".

"Try not to write down a question." She said.

He nodded and blushed, remembering that was the whole point of this in the first place. He erased the board and tried to think of something to write. He looked around the room for inspiration when his eyes landed on Twilight. He admired her beauty and her beautiful mane, which he really liked. He decided to write that. He wrote, "I like your mane" but when he went to put the punctuation, he put a period but couldn't stop as he added the hook above it, turning it into a question. He erased the board several times to try again but no matter how hard he tried not to, he couldn't end a sentence without a question mark. He sighed as he held up the sign, showing her he'd written, "I like your mane?". She knew he probably didn't mean it as a question and took the board and marker.

"It was worth a try." She said. "Don't get discouraged. We just have to find your next talent to get rid of this one."

"I know, but what can I do?" He asked.

"I know. Maybe my friends can help you! I'll tell you where they live before sending you to meet them." She said.

After learning and memorizing the locations headed out on his way. He passed through the town square, which was bustling with different ponies, all going somewhere or doing something. Everywhere he looked, it also reminded him of his cutie mark dilemma, as he saw florists with flower cutie marks selling bouquets; Ponies with chairs as their cutie mark selling furniture; and on and on. It made him question his dilemma even more, not that he really had a choice since he was stuck with this annoying cutie mark. He then walked into somepony and saw three fillies on the ground in front of him.

"Did I knock you over? Please, let me help you?" He pulled them to their feet.

"It's alright, mister."

"Yeah. Nothin's broken. Right, girls?"

"I'm all good over here!"

He was relieved to hear they were unharmed. He noticed something interesting about them: they had very identical cutie marks, something he hadn't seen before.

"We were comin' over here to talk to you anyway! I'm Apple Bloom. These here are my friends, Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell."

"We couldn't help but notice you looked a little down in the dumps." Scootaloo said.

"You wouldn't happen to have a cutie mark problem, would you?" Sweetie Bell asked.

"My name is Harold and it is very nice to meet you? Do you fix cutie mark problems?" He asked.

"You bet your boots we do! 'Cause we're-" Apple Bloom started to say, before they all took a deep breath in unison.

"-THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!" They shouted, making passing ponies look over at them. Harold's ears were ringing from them suddenly shouting and was a bit embarrassed by the looks from the other ponies.

"What does that mean?" He asked.

"We travel all over Ponyville hoping to find ponies who are blank flanks," Scootaloo said.

"Or have a cutie mark and are confused about their destiny," Apple Bloom said.

"And help them get their cutie mark or understand the one they already have! Isn't that neat?" Sweet Bell asked.

"Which means, we can help you. So, what's your cutie mark problem? Actually, what is your cutie mark? I ain't never seen one like this before." Apple Bloom said.

The three of them crowded around his cutie mark to study it, which made him a bit uncomfortable.

"It probably means he's a mystery! Mysteries are fun to solve!" Scootaloo said.

"Or it means he's naturally confused and we have to help him think straight for once!" Apple Bloom said.

"That doesn't make any sense, does it?" Harold asked.

"Oh, I got it! Maybe it's because you ask a lot of questions! Am I right?" Sweetie Bell asked.

Harold nodded, since it was the only way he could indicate yes. "I think that's only part of my problem? My cutie mark changes as I learn new talents and once I learn a new one, the skills from the old ones vanish, understand?"

"So, not only is that not your permanent cutie mark, you can only speak in questions? That's so cool!" Scootaloo said.

"It is?" Harold asked.

"Yeah, but don't you worry, mister! We'll get to the bottom of your problem, because we're-"

He saw them about to take a deep breath to scream their team name to sky and covered their mouths before they could.

"I will accept your help, alright? Just please promise me you won't yell anymore?" He begged.

"You got it, mister!" Scootaloo said.

"So, where are you headin'?" Apple Bloom asked him.

"Sweet Apple Acres? Do you know where that is?"

"Do I? I live there! Me, Granny Smith, my big brother, Big Mac and my big sister, Applejack run the farm over there."

"Applejack is your sister? She's the one I need to see, I believe?"

"Well then, what are we lolly gagging here like a bunch of pigs stuck in the mud for? Let's get going! Follow us!" Apple Bloom said.

Harold ran after the three of them, doing his best to keep up with them. Soon, they arrived at Sweet Apple Acres. Harold noticed a large red stallion with a large green apple for a cutie mark pulling a huge cart filled with apples.

" _How is he pulling that cart so effortlessly? The cart would not budge if I was the one trying to pull it, though am I that weak?"_ Harold thought.

"That there's my big brother, Big Mac. Hey, big brother!" Apple Bloom shouted as they walked over to him. Big Mac smiled at her and waved before looking at Harold quizzically.

"This here's Harold. We're helpin' him to find his true talent!"

"Believe it or not, his cutie mark changes. Right now, he's stuck with one that makes it so he can only talk in questions." Scootaloo said. "We're going to help him discover what his totally awesome talent is!"

"We came here looking for Applejack. Where is she?" Sweetie Bell asked.

Big Mac pointed towards the southern apple fields. Harold followed the three of them as they headed in that direction.

"He's not much for conversation, is he?" Harold asked.

"Yeah. Normally, he just replied 'Eeyup' or 'Nope' to everything. It's rare he ever speaks full sentences." Apple Bloom said.

"Doesn't that make it hard to communicate with him?" He asked.

"Not really. I mean, you can only speak by askin' questions and we're communicatin' pretty easily. It's kinda like that. We just have a general understandin' of one another." Apple Bloom said.

He could see the similarities between the two scenarios. They both have their limitations, but they made it works as best they could. They saw an orange mare wearing a cowboy hat come into view. She charged towards a tree before turning around and kicking it with her hind legs as hard as possible. The tree shook as the vibrations caused the apples to fall into the baskets below, getting all the apples off the tree all at once. Harold was amazed by her strength and speed. As he approached with Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell, the mare smiled at them.

"Howdy, young'uns. Who's this here fella?" Applejack asked.

"This is Harold. He's got a cutie mark problem we're fixin' to solve!" Apple Bloom said.

"Does he now?" Applejack asked, as she looked at his flank. "A question cutie mark. The first time I've ever heard of one. What's the problem though?"

"Well, it's not the cutie mark he should have so we're trying to figure out what's supposed to be there." Sweetie Bell said.

"And he can only talk in questions because of it." Scootaloo said.

"Well, that's quite a conundrum you got there. I'm guessin' you came to see me, reckonin' I could give you a new one, right?" Applejack asked Harold.

"Please, if you would be so kind?"

"Let's give Apple Buckin' a try! It's my talent but maybe you could get somethin' out of it too. Watch carefully now!"

Applejack faced towards a group of trees that she still needed apples from. She galloped towards the trees, bucking the trees one after another as quickly as she could. She then stopped as the last apple fell from the last tree.

"Now, you give it a shot!" She shouted from where she was. Harold was a bit nervous, having never done anything like this before. He found a group of trees with baskets under them. He took a deep breath before charging at the first tree. He turned around and kicked it as hard as he could. When he did, he was tossed forward from the vibration on the tree but it also caused a small shockwave to spread from the tree he kicked to the ones surrounding it, knocking the apples off of ten trees from one kick. He then noticed a flash of light as he looked behind him and saw his cutie mark had changed to an apple with a shockwave surrounding it.

"That was so totally awesome!" Scootaloo said as the others ran up to him.

"Hoo wee, I ain't never seen someone buck like that and get that reaction from the trees. And you got yourself a nice new flashy cutie mark! You think that might be the one you're lookin' for?" Applejack asked.

"I don't know. It could be. Hey, I can talk normally now! Thank goodness." He said.

"Hey, girls, we helped him discover a new cutie mark!" Apple Bloom shouted excitedly, before the three of them gave each other high hooves.

"I'm mighty happy for you, Harold. If that does happen to be to your permanent cutie mark, you could work on the farm. We could always use an extra hoof 'round here." Applejack said.

"I'll keep that in mind." Harold said.

He heard the sound of a triangle being rung before looking over at the house. He saw an old, frail, green pony on the porch was the one ringing it.

"Hey, everypony! Lunch is served!" The green pony shouted before going back into the house.

"Granny Smith's home cookin' is the best you'll ever have. Would you like to join us for lunch?" Applejack asked.

"Is it time for lunch already? Feels like I just had breakfast a little while ago." He said.

"It's noon. That's when we have lunch. If you're busy, I completely understand." She said.

"I feel like it would be rude to refuse. I can come in and have a little bit of something to eat." He glanced over at Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo. "Will they be joining us too?"

"They're welcome if they want to." Applejack said.

"I would, but I promised Rarity I would help her with one of her orders today, so I have to go." Sweetie Bell said.

"I told Rainbow I'd watch her aerial act for the next Wonderbolts show, and I wouldn't miss it for the world! It's going to be so awesome!" Scootaloo said.

"Alright. See you two later!" Apple Bloom said as she waved goodbye to her friends as they ran off. He followed Applejack and Apple Bloom into the house. When he entered Granny Smith was setting the table and saw him.

"Well, who's this here feller? I wasn't expecting guests." She said as she walked over to him. "I'm Granny Smith. What's yer name, sonny?"

"I'm Harold." He said as he shook her hoof.

"Well, Harold, come have a seat and stay awhile. Everypony is always welcome around these parts. What brought you to our humble, little farm?" She asked as she got a bowl of homemade vegetable soup for him. He explained what he was doing at the farm and his current predicament to her.

"I think I got most of that, but it don't make no sense to me. I'm glad you ended up in Twilight's abode rather than somewhere unsavory." Granny said.

"Yeah, and we'll do whatever it takes to help you find your true talent again. Ain't that right, y'all?" Applejack asked.

"I do appreciate it." He said before picking up a spoon and starting to eat the soup in front of him. He realized Applejack wasn't kidding when she said Granny Smith's home cooking was the best. He'd never had soup that tasted that flavorful before.

"Do you want to try some more chores 'round the farm? See if any other cutie marks can be found?" Granny Smith asked.

"Sure. I might as well try everything." Harold replied.

After the light, but filling lunch, Harold followed Applejack around the farm, doing different chores with her, from simple tasks to difficult ones. Despite the assortment of tasks, his cutie mark did not change from the sonic boom apple cutie mark. After they'd done the last one, Applejack looked at his cutie mark.

"Nope, nothin'. Aw, shucks, I was hopin' we'd find another apple one for ya. Oh well. At least you got stuck with a pretty cool one and not another ridiculous one like that question mark one." Applejack said.

"That's very true." Harold said. "Thanks for your help. I better get going."

"You're welcome. You have a safe trip back, y'hear?" Applejack said.

Harold nodded and waved goodbye to her before heading back towards town. As he did, he started to feel the fatigue his body was under since working on the farm had taken a lot out of him. Feeling like he'd made some progress, though he wasn't sure if it was good or bad, he decided to call it a night and head back to Twilight's castle.

His fatigue was chased away as a sudden thunderclap startled him, before it started to pour hard. He looked around and saw he was only in the town square and Twilight's castle was still quite a walk. He needed to find a dry place to take refuge until the storm passed. He saw a bright pink building with a cupcake sign hanging from it. He ran inside of the bakery, dripping wet from head to toe. He then shook to get the excess water off of himself.

"Hey!"

He looked up to see an all pink pony with a curly pink mane and balloons on her flank, standing in front of him. He noticed that her mane and tail were now drooping from getting wet. He walked over to her, looking worried.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't see you there!" He said, expecting her to be furious with him. He was surprised when she smiled at him, looking excited to see him.

"It's oki-dokey, mister! I've been through worse. You should have seen the frosting accident I had. It was the most delicious mess I've been in! Though Mrs. Cake didn't think so." She said. "So, who are you? I've never seen you around before." He was startled when she suddenly gasped like she had an inspiring thought. "Did you just move here?!"

He felt a bit overwhelmed by the huge amount of energy the pony had. He saw her squeeze the water out of her mane and tail, and saw they were instantly dry afterwards as they poofed up back to their normal state.. He thought he was seeing things, but there was no doubt she'd somehow squeezed all the moisture out of her mane.

"I'm Harold. I haven't moved here, but I have been staying with Twilight Sparkle." He said.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Pinkie Pie! Did you say Twilight? She's one of my bestest friends in the whole wide world!" She replied.

"You are? She did ask me to talk to her friends."

"Really? Why? Is it because we're so good at talking? Once I talked for two days straight! It was to my gator, Gummy, but I just couldn't stop talking about the triple layer chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and powdered sugar I'd made earlier that day! Well the day that I started talking on, not the day I finished talk-"

"No, no, no." He said, putting a hoof to her mouth to get her to stop before realizing that was rude and putting his hoof down. "Sorry. I'm sure you're all great at talking, but that is not why she sent me." He felt out of breath just listening to her speak non stop, but from what she said, he was better off stopping her now before he ended up standing there for two days, listening to her story. He noticed she didn't seem upset that he cut her off as she moved on from the subject.

"Then, what is the reason?" She asked.

"You see, I've lost my cutie mark ability, and whenever I try something new, I get a cutiemark from it. I did discover that once I get a cutie mark in a certain field, I can't get another one in it or go back to a previous one I've had." He explained. "I just came from the apple farm and I got this apple sonic boom cutie mark while Apple bucking, but when I tried to get another Apple farming related cutie mark, nothing happened."

"I think I get it. So, she wants me to help you find a cutie mark?" She asked.

"Essentially, yes." He said.

"Well, why didn't you just say so? I've never helped a pony get a cutie mark before but I'm sure we'll find you the most splendiferous, wowie-wow-wowing cutie mark ever!" Pinkie said, hopping with excitement.

"That's great! So, what is your special talent? Applejack gave me a cutie mark related to hers, so I assume you'll do the same?" He asked.

"I got these when I threw my very first party for my family and made them smile! Party planning is my game, but that's not all I can do. You need cupcakes? Call Pinkie Pie. You need cake? Call Pinkie Pie. You feeling down at 3a.m. and the only thing that can cheer you up is a five tiered, cinnamon candy apple cake with caramel frosting. Who do you call?" She asked, looking at him expectantly.

"Um, call Pinkie Pie? So, you're also a baker, then?" Harold responded.

"Exactly! Since planning a party and throwing it might be a bit much for you, so baking it is!"

"Well, I'm not that good at cooking…The last time I tried to cook something, I almost ended up burning my house down."

"Well, they'll be no fires today! You're with me and as long as you follow my instructions, you'll be baking at max velocity the most scrumptious treats in all of ponykind!"

"Ok, well, let's get started." He said, smiling at her.

"Yeah! Let's get this baking party started!"

Harold was startled when he saw her pull a cannon out and ducked down before hearing a high pitched squeak. He looked up to see confetti raining from the ceiling. He looked at her, who was looking at him like blasting a cannon inside of a building was a completely normal thing to do.

"What is that?" He asked as he brushed the confetti off of himself.

"This? It's my most prized possession! The Party Cannon! I always have it with me everywhere I go! You never know when you'll need a party cannon!"

He watched her as she hopped into the kitchen. He chuckled as he followed her into the kitchen. When he did, all of the baking ingredients were out on the table and the equipment they needed were out as well.

"I've got everything set up! Let's try making cupcakes first!" Pinkie said.

"Ok. Hopefully it's a simple recipe." He said, knowing from Pinkie's shortened story that she liked to do elaborate cakes and baked goods.

"It is simple. Like I tell everypony, anypony can bake. All you have to do is follow the instructions." She said. She went over to a shelf and picked up a book, balancing it on her nose before putting it down on the counter. When the spine of the book hit the table, it fell open and Pinkie pointed at the open page.

"Here we are! Let's try starting with a simple apple cupcake recipe." She said.

He looked at the instructions in the book, and grabbed three apples from the fruit bowl.

"It says here I need to peel and core these. Is there something I can use to do that?" He asked.

"Yup. I've got my handy dandy apple peeler and corer right here!" She said before grabbing the two contraptions from the cabinet behind them. She put them on the counter and demonstrated how to use them with the first apple. He then peeled and took the core out of the other two apples. He then cut them up before putting them to the side.

"Great job so far! Next step!" She said, excitedly, before grabbing a couple of measuring cup. "Now, we just have to measure out the ingredients needed!"

"I think I can do that." He said.

He helped measure out the ingredients. Once everything was ready, he grabbed a bowl and started to put the wet ingredients into the bowl before Pinkie stopped him.

"Put the dry ingredients in first! It'll be easier to mix that way." She said.

He nodded and put the ingredients he had down. He grabbed the dry ones and poured them into the bowl and then out the wet ones in. He mixed the ingredients well as Pinkie grabbed a muffin tin and greased it with butter before putting the batter into it and put it into the oven.

"Now what?" He asked.

"We get to one of my favorite parts: making the frosting!" Pinkie said as she bounced around before having him help her make the frosting.

Soon, the egg timer dinged, signaling the cupcakes were finished. Pinkie took them out of the oven before going over to the refrigerator and putting them in.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Putting them into the refrigerator. The cupcakes have to be cool before frosting them or the frosting will melt off of them. So sad when such good frosting is wasted when that happens." She said.

He nodded, before sitting down. He looked at the egg timer as Pinkie set it for the time the cupcakes needed to cool, seeing it was set for fifteen minutes. He tried to think of something he could talk to her about, not wanting to sit in silence. Just as he was about to speak, Pinkie asked, "How did you end up meeting Twilight?"

"I somehow just appeared in her home. That sounds weird but I think I was teleported there. Not sure why or how I ended up there though." He answered. "How did you meet Twilight?"

"She came to Ponyville since we were chosen to host the Sun Celebration ceremony, and she wasn't anything like she is now."

"Really?"

"She was super boring! She didn't want to make any friends. It was kind of sad but I'm so glad she changed her mind! She discovered we're the Elements of Harmony and that we have the traits that make friendship great and we've all been best friends ever since!"

"Wow, I didn't know all of that. I remember the celebration when you guys defeated Nightmare Moon, restoring Luna to her former state, and the celebration when you guys defeated Discord, Crysalis and Tirek. I'm surprised you don't have paparazzi swarming you guys constantly."

"They did at first but Twilight ordered them to stop and being a princess, they listened to her."

"That's good." He said.

The timer went off. Pinkie pulled the cupcakes out of the refrigerator. Without any instruction, he grabbed a pastry bag and filled it with the frosting. He then cut the tip of the pastry bag before he started to frost the cupcakes quickly and without stopping once. Once the cupcakes were done, his flank glowed and a pastry bag filled with frosting appeared on his flank..

"Ooo, yay, it worked!" She said, jumping around him. "Do you think this might be the cutie mark you're looking for?"

"Maybe. I did like baking so if it is, I would be very happy with it." He said, smiling as he admired his new cutie mark.

"Here. Since you made them and did such a good job, I'll box these cupcakes for you to take back to Twilight's."

"Thank you. I don't have to pay for them?" He asked.

"Nope! No charge needed!" She said before grabbing a box and putting the cupcakes into it. She handed him the box. He balanced it on his back, before noticing that it had stopped raining outside.

"I should get going. It was nice to meet you." He said.

"It was great meeting you too! Talk to you later!"

Pinkie walked him to the door and waved as he walked away. Harold waved back, feeling great and excited, like Pinkie's energy was contagious. Making cupcakes with Pinkie was a lot more fun than he thought it would be and he couldn't wait to show Twilight what he had accomplished.


	5. Chapter 5

He entered Twilight's house, walking around as he looked for her. He saw Spike coming out of one of the rooms. Spike smiled at Harold and walked over to him.

"Hey Harold, how are you? Oh, I see you got a new cutie mark, and cupcakes! Can I have one?" Spike asked.

"Yeah, go ahead." He said, picking up the box and opening it. "Yeah, I went to Applejack's and got a sonic boom apple cutie mark and then I got trapped at Sugarcube Corner for a bit because of the storm, and got a baking lesson from Pinkie."

"Sonic boom apple cutie mark? That sounds awesome! I would have stuck with that one, if it was me." Spike said, before taking a cupcake and taking a bite. "Mmm, your baking skills are really awesome!"

"Thanks. Do you know where Twilight is? I want to give her an update on what I did today."

"Yeah. She's in her study. Go down the hall, turn left and then it's the second door on the left."

Harold nodded and put the box on his back again, before heading to Twilight's study. He knocked on the door when he got there before entering the room. He saw Twilight sitting there, absorbed in a book she was reading.

"Hey, Twilight." He said.

She looked over her shoulder at him, and smiled before standing up to face him.

"Hey, Harold. How did it go today?" She asked. She noticed the cupcake box and his cupcake cutie mark. "I'm guessing you went to see Pinkie Pie?"

"Yeah, and Applejack too. Would you like a cupcake? I helped make them."

"Sure, I'll try one."

He gave her a cupcake, watching as she ate it before seeing her smile after taking a bite.

"Wow, that's probably the best cupcakes I've ever tried." She said.

"Thanks." He said, with a blush.

"I'm glad you seem to have some progress towards finding your new cutie mark. I was about to have Spike make dinner. Do you want some?"

"No thanks. I'm pretty tired after working on the farm and then in the kitchen at Sugarcube Corner, so I think I'm going to turn in early. I'll talk to you in the morning."

"Alright. Have a nice rest." She said, before leaving the room.

He smiled, glad that she liked the cupcakes he made, as he headed towards the guest room. He put the box of cupcakes on the table in the room before going over to the bed and going to sleep.

As he fell asleep, his vision turned completely red and felt like he was floating.

"Enjoying yourself? It's so sad watching you do so." The dark voice filled his head and he cringed, covering his ears to try and block it out.

"Go away! I don't know what you think I have or can do for you, but I want no part in it!" Harold shouted.

"You know why it's so sad? Because I know your joyous time with come to end, once again." The voice responded.

"Wait, what do you mean 'once again'?"

"Don't you remember? What happened to your parents?"

"Nothing bad happened to my parents, if that's what you're implying!"

"How do you think they died?"

"They died of old age, like most ponies do. What's wrong with that?"

The dark voice let out an ominous chuckle. "I see that Celestia is not as pure in her actions as she has made you believe. I can reveal the truth to you."

"T-The truth? What truth? I already know the truth!"

"You only believe the truth that you have been led to believe. Here, let me help you and maybe, in return, you will help me."

After that, the red light in front of him faded and he found himself standing in a child's bedroom of a house that felt very familiar. There was a small bed at the far wall with a solar system bedsheets covering it. A toy train set lay on the middle of the floor. On the walls, rocket ships and stars had been painted. He walked around the room, and knelt down to try and pick up the toy train to examine it, but his hand phased through it.

" _So, I can't interact with my environment. That's fine, but is this a memory of mine? This is definitely the house I grew up in."_ He wondered. He heard the sound giggling before seeing a small earth pony colt with a white coat, blue eyes, black mane and tail with no cutie mark ran past the entrance to the room. Harold was curious, wondering who that was as he walked out into the hallway to watch him and was startled when a large earth pony mare with a white coat, violet eyes, long wavy blonde mane and tail, and what appeared to be a child's storybook for her cutie mark, ran through his body as she ran after the colt. She didn't stop at or acknowledge the fact she ran through him.

"Harold, come on, it's time for bed." She said. Harold was confused, thinking maybe she could see him until he realized she was talking to the colt in front of her.

"No!" The colt said as he shook his head, and smiled playfully before running behind one of the chairs. He stuck his head out to look at her before ducking behind it, completely out of her sight.

"Oh my, I wonder where Harold could have gone. Looks like I can't find him. Too bad, since I was going to tell him his favorite bedtime story, but I guess it'll have to wait for another night." She said and looked over at his hiding spot. The colt ran over and hugged one of her forelegs, smiling up at her.

"Story! Story!" He cried, excitedly.

"There he is!" She said, playfully, as she picked him up and carried him to his room. "Alright, you'll get your story. Let's get you tucked in first." She put him in the bed, tucking him in before going to the bookshelf to grab the storybook she needed and started to read it to him.

"Once upon a time, there was…" Her voice started to fade as the colt feel asleep while listening to the story and the room was filled with that mysterious red light again.

"There's no doubt that this is my home from when I was small! But that was a happy memory, so maybe the voice was lying when he was saying I was believing a lie?"Harold wondered as he felt like he was transported somewhere else.

When his body came to a stop and the blue light cleared, he found himself in the middle of a huge city. He saw all the ponies around him were dressed in a very sophisticated style. Harold never liked having to wear fancy attire.

" _As much as I love Canterlot, I remember the one thing I couldn't stand was having to wear formal attire, or something that signified sophistication when going out, or everypony else judged you poorly for it. I wonder what memory this is supposed to be?"_ He wondered.

"James, he's undone his bow tie again." He heard his mother's voice from before and spotted them. His young self was being fussy as his father, an orange earth pony stallion with dark green eyes, white mane and tail and a compass cutie mark fixed the bow tie.

"No! No tie!" He complained as he started tugging at again.

"He's just going to keep undoing, Mary. Why don't we just let him take it off?" James asked.

"This is the Grand Galloping Gala! We were lucky to be invited! He can't go without being in full formal attire in front of the princess." Mary said.

"How do we keep him from taking it off at the Gala?" James asked.

Mary knelt down to talk to the colt. "I know you don't like the bow tie, but it's just one evening. You can wear it that long, can't you?" She asked, but he did not stop trying to take it off. She rummaged around in her purse and pulled out what looked like a piece of candy. "If you wear the bow tie and don't tug at it for the rest of the outing, you can have this. Do we have a deal?" When the colt saw the candy, he stopped tugging at his tie, smiling up at her as he nodded. "Good." She put the candy back into her purse as they went to the castle. Harold noticed that they walked into the Gala. He remembered going to the party and having a great time, but there was something he noticed that bothered him. They were allowed into the castle without having to show anything to prove they were invited. He felt the security would be better at such a large party. Then he saw her, Princess Celestia, dressed in formal attire, standing at the top of the stairs, her wings fanned out as she greeted guests. Harold felt anger towards her, but he didn't understand why. He and his parents had no problem when shaking Celestia's hoof and smiled as he saw how ecstatic he was afterwards. There was nothing in front of him to indicate why he'd feel such negative feelings towards Princess Celestia.

He continued to follow his family as they mingled at the party. After an agonizing hour of watching them walk to a pony and talk to him, then walk up to another pony and talk to her, and repeat that over and over again, he noticed that's all there was to it.

" _I've been to the Grand Galloping Gala after becoming Celestia's magic advisor, but viewing it as an outsider, it's not that grand. You'd think with a name like 'Grand Galloping Gala', it wouldn't just be grand because of the amount of guests. It's just a boring mingle party."_ He thought. He then noticed Princess Celestia slip away from the crowd. "Would you like me to show you where she's gone?" The dark voice asked. He nodded and saw everything around him freeze, except for Celestia as he saw her disappear around a corner. He followed her, surprised that she wouldn't be in attendance at the gala the whole time. She went into her bedroom, and put her formal crown on the dresser with a sigh.

"This party is always so boring. I wish something exciting or unexpected would happen." She said to herself. "Should I stop having them? They are very expensive and take a lot of time to plan and execute. My subjects wouldn't think ill of me if I did, would they?... No, I cannot do that. My subjects would not be very happy with me if I did. So, I will have to endure it." He watched as she put her crown back on and left to go mingle and greet people.

" _Then this party is pointless? It's just to keep up Celestia's reputation! That is…That is… so self-centered! How is she the princess? How did such an egomaniac become ruler?!"_ He thought, before realizing how hard on her he was being. _"Maybe I'm reading too hard into it. If ponies did see her as distant, I guess that would be just as bad as being seen as being absorbed with herself."_

His vision filled with red light again for a bit before stopping. Now, his family was walking through the streets. They had on the same attire so Harold knew this was taking place later on that same evening. It looked like they were heading home after the Gala, talking and laughing about it. As they walked, his young self poke his nose at Mary's purse.

"Candy?" He asked, as he looked up at her. He smiled and received the candy from Mary, which he ate happily before pulling his bow tie completely off, and putting it into her purse. Mary and James chuckled at that.

Just then, a unicorn wearing a ski mask and black clothing covering his whole body jumped out in front of them. He levitated an empty bag, staring intensely at them.

"Give me all your bits and valuables! I know lethal magic, and I'm not afraid to use it!" He threatened.

James put a hoof over Mary's when she started to reach into her purse to get her bit bag. He shook his head before he stood between the robber and his family. "You must be bluffing. Lethal unicorn magic is illegal! We will not give you one cent! We barely have enough that is worth taking!" He said. "Now stand aside!"

"You think I believe that? Now, give the coins to me, or I'll take them by force!" He said, his horn glowing brighter as he charged up a spell.

"James, let's just do as he says!" Mary said, fear in her voice.

"I will not let this mongrel take our hard-earned bits away from us!" James said.

The unicorn shrugged. "Your funeral." The unicorn them fired a beam from his horn at James. James closed his eyes as he braced himself to take the blow, but didn't feel anything. James's eyes shot open when he heard his son let out a cry.

"Mommy!" The colt screamed as he ran over to her. Harold didn't even realize he'd shrieked as well when he saw Mary jump in front of James and her body get charred instantly from the attack.

"Mary!" James exclaimed with shock and horror in his voice. He glared angrily at the unicorn before charging him. "You bastard! You killed my wife!" He saw the unicorn charging up another blast but punched him in the horn whenever he saw it glow as the two of them fought. Harold saw the colt run back towards the castle. Harold followed him as the colt ran into the castle garden, where the Princess was. He grabbed a bit of her dress in his mouth and tugged to get her attention. She looked down at him.

"What is the matter, little one?" She asked.

He indicated for her to follow, which she did. He hurried back to where his father was still fighting the unicorn. The unicorn got in a good hit and blasted James, sending him flying backwards. James tried to get up, but collapsed to the ground again, too weak to move. The unicorn was about to walk forward to collect their money when he saw the princess.

"P-Princess?!" He exclaimed in shock, before trying to run, but Celestia put a bubble around him, he couldn't break. She looked at him sternly, as she approached.

"P-Please Princess, have mercy on me! Times are rough and I have to do what I can to get by! Please, don't hurt me!" The unicorn begged.

"I will not." Celestia said. "But you will stand trial for this crime. I will see to that."

The colt went over to his parents, shaking them, tears running like waterfalls down his face, but they did not budge. He went over to Celestia, pointed at her horn before pointing at his parents, hoping she knew a spell to revive them.

"I am sorry, little one, but there is nothing I can do." She said, solemnly. The colt was in shock to hear that, and so was Harold. He couldn't believe an alicorn didn't know resurrection magic! He then remembered how useless Celestia was during the Crysalis attack when she was defeated so easily, but Crysalis did say that she had absorbed so much of Shining Armor's love for Princess Cadence, that's why she was able to best Celestia, so he didn't blame her for that. Still, he found this unacceptable, but took a deep breath to calm his mind.

"Well, she organizes the trial. She'll make sure my parents get the justice they deserve, right?" Harold asked. He heard the dark voice chuckle as his vision turned all red. He waited for something else to happen, but nothing did.

"What happens next? Why'd you stop?"

"S…thing…try…to in…fere…" The entity's broken voice started to fade until he couldn't hear it anymore.

Harold was suddenly standing in a blue plane, covered in stars. He then saw a dark blue alicorn appear in front of him in a flash. Princess Luna looked at him as she approached slowly.

"Princess Luna, what are you doing here?" He asked.

"I made it a priority to talk with you tonight. I sensed your nightmare last night, but was unable to get to it. The dark energy surrounding the dream blocked me, but I managed to break through. It is important that you don't trust anything you are told by that dark entity. He was sealed away for playing with ponies' minds and I fear he will try to trick you as well." She said.

"So, my parents weren't mercilessly slaughtered by a unicorn?" He asked. He noticed that Luna was hesitant when he asked that. "Well? Was it true or not?"

"It was not true. It was fabricated to make you hate Celestia and by extension, all princesses." She answered.

"You sure? Took you a bit to answer." He said.

"I assure you that it was fake. You should cease all interaction you have with this dark entity." She said.

"You make it sound like I willingly contacted him… I didn't! He just started talking to me out of nowhere!" He said.

"I see. Forgive my assumption. I do know a spell that can block him from being able to contact you telepathically. Would you like me to cast the spell on you?"

He then noticed black holes form in the walls of the world around them as red tendrils slithered out of them, heading towards him.

"She's lyi…Don't lis…to her!"

"He starting to break through my spell to hold him back from this dream realm! You must make your decision quickly!" She said, her horn glowing as she tried to keep the tendrils back. Some of them were blocked but others went around her magic and sped up. Harold was conflicted since he didn't know who to trust.

" _If that entity was telling the truth, I wouldn't be able to find out more about what happened back then if I agree to have the spell cast on me…but if Princess Luna is right, I should have the entity blocked…I should be able to trust a princess, right?"_ He thought. He saw that the tendrils were getting dangerously close as he backed up to keep them from touching him.

"I'll take the spell." He said to her. The tendrils sped up even more when he said that. Luna quickly teleported over to him and put her horn against his forehead. As soon as the spell was cast, the tendrils disappeared, along with the black holes.

"It is done. He shouldn't bother you anymore." She said.

"That's a relief. I can't believe I almost fell for his fake visions. Princess Luna, do you know where this entity came from?" He asked.

"Unfortunately, I do not, but I hope you will rest easy knowing that you are protected."

"I think I will. Thank you, Princess Luna."

"You are very welcome. Farewell." She then disappeared in a flash of light. The dreamscape then faded.

Luna returned to the castle. On the way to her bedroom, she ran into Celestia.

"Good morning, Luna." Celestia said. "How were your rounds?"

"Good morning, Celestia." Luna responded. "Eventful, like usual. I also have something else to tell you, but I prefer we speak in private, lest there be prying ears."

Luna went into her bedroom and sat on her bed as Celestia came into the room. She could tell that her previous statement had worried Celestia. While other ponies could not see Celestia's worry and stress, Luna knew her older sister well enough to be able to tell when something was bothering her.

"What is it you wanted to talk to me about?" Celestia asked.

"One of the nightmares I visited tonight was Harold's." Luna said. She saw Celestia turn a bit pale. "Do not worry. He did not harm me. It was very apparent that the memory wipe was successful, however the dark entity that was sealed away in the medallion has established communication with him. I managed to use a spell to block it, and I can only hope that it holds. It seems the entity is slowly unlocking Harold's memories that had been suppressed through the use of dreams. He has not been told about recent events, but I fear to think of what could happen if he does remember. Though, I did have to lie to him. I do feel it was wrong to not tell him that what he saw was not real."

"It was necessary for you to lead him astray, so do not feel bad about it. It is a relief to know that he does not remember getting the dark powers. This is most concerning. The medallion should make it impossible for it to communicate with Harold. It may be more powerful than we realized." Celestia said.

"The medallion was also cracked when it was sealed away. That may have weakened the medallion's power." Luna responded.

"What should we do? Do you know where he was when he was dreaming?"

"No. I do not know the location of the dreamer, just where the dream is in the dreamscape, which does not match the outside world."

"I see. I do hope that he is in good hooves and someone who won't try to poorly influence his decisions."

"Agreed. That is all I have to report. Now, I must rest so I will be able to help more ponies tonight."

"Sleep well, my sister."

"I will, Sis."

Celestia left the room, walking back to the throne room, very troubled by this news. She felt that the wizards' knowledge might not have been extensive enough to fully be able to seal away the dark entity that had been released by the ritual Harold performed. She got to the throne room doors, taking a deep breath and putting on a calm disposition before entering the room, the guards bowing to her as she walked by and sat down on her throne. She hoped that Luna's spell would keep the entity from controlling Harold.


	6. Chapter 6

Harold woke up, feeling somewhat uncertain about the dream he had last night. He sat on the bed as he thought about what just happened and wondered if Luna had actually been there and if he was rid of the entity forever. His mind was filled with doubt, mainly He was a bit skeptical of her since it took her a bit too long to think about her answer when he asked if she was telling him the truth. He decided to get up and head to breakfast. He walked into the dining room, seeing Spike and Twilight sitting at the table, already eating. When Twilight smiled at him, he felt his heart flutter a bit, before calming himself.

"Good morning, Twilight." He said.

"Good morning, Harold. How are you doing today?" She asked.

"I'm alright."

"Sleep well?"

"Not really. I had another nightmare, but this time, Princess Luna showed up to stop it and was successful, so hopefully I won't have that nightmare again."

"I'm glad Luna was able to help you. She's very good at what she does, from what I've heard. What was the nightmare about, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I, um, don't really want to talk about it…It was really disturbing…"

Twilight nodded. "Well, I'm glad they've been taken care of. Will you continue to see my friends today? I still find your situation fascinating, since I literally can't find anything about a pony in history having the same predicament."

"Fascinating? I guess it is and yeah, I think I will go to see your friends. It seems to be helpful, and even if I don't discover my cutie mark, I'm enjoying getting to know you and your friends so far. Who should I go see first?"

He waited for a moment as he saw Twilight ponder his question, before she said, "I think going to see Rarity first would be a good place to start."

"Oh, if you're going to her place first, I can take you there since I need to go there to help her with some of her outfits." Spike said.

"That would be great. Outfits? Is she a model?" Harold asked.

"No, she makes clothing. She's really good at it, too. It's her special talent."

"Oh. I'm not really much for fashion, but I guess I could give it a try."

"I'm sure it'll be fine. It worked out with the apple farm and bakery so far." Twilight said.

"That's true."

As they walked, he looked over at Spike. "So, what is Rarity like?"

"She's really nice, talented and the prettiest pony in all of Equestria." Spike said, before blushing. "I mean…um, well I think you'll like her. It'd be hard for any pony not to."

"Do you have a crush on Rarity?" Harold asked.

"Y-Yeah, a bit. Others think I don't notice, but I hear them when they say that Rarity is just humoring me and that I'll grow out of my crush on her. They just don't understand the relationship I have with her. She's the Spirit of Generosity! You don't think she would deceive me, do you?"

"Well, I don't know her very well, but I don't think she would." He said.

"See? You can see it. Now, if I could only make others see it that way. Oh, we're here!"

He ran up to the house and knocked on the door. A white pony with a purple mane and tail with loose curls and three diamonds for a cutie mark opened the door. She smiled at them.

"Spike, you're finally here! Just in time, I was- Oh, hello. Who is this?" She asked.

"Hi, I'm Harold. You must be Rarity. I've heard some good things about you. It's nice to meet you." He said, holding his hoof out for a hoofshake.

"Oh, what a gentlecolt! Yes, I am Rarity. How is it you've heard about me?" She asked, as she shook hooves with him.

"I've been staying with Twilight for the past couple of days and I was told that you're a clothes designer and a very good one too." He said.

"You've heard correctly. If anypony can make you the perfect ensemble for the perfect occasion, look no further! Rarity is the pony for you! In fact, that's the name of one of my boutiques that I'm planning to open sometime in the future: Rarity for You." She said. "But, enough about me, let's talk about you. Please, come in."

Harold and Spike went into the boutique. Harold looked around, taking in his surroundings and admiring the very detailed decoration of the house.

"You needed some help with a few dresses, right?" Spike asked.

"Yes. The dresses are in the back room and in the trunk. Can you go and get them set up for me, please?" She asked.

"Anything for you, Rarity." Spike said, before running into the backroom. Rarity then turned to Harold, sitting down in front of him.

"So, where are you from?" She asked.

"I'm from Canterlot." He said.

"I absolutely love that city. I may live in Ponyville, but in spirit, I am a Canterlot pony. I also have a boutique there. Rarity's Boutique is the name. Maybe you've heard of it?" She asked.

Harold thought about it, wondering if he had, but the name didn't ring any bells.

"I'm afraid I haven't, but when I go back, I will definitely check it out." He said.

"It is primarily a mare boutique, though I am working on a stallion selection. Don't want to limit my clientele." She said.

"Maybe I'll take my marefriend there, then. I'm surprised she hadn't mentioned it to me. She loves to shop."

"Oh, you have a marefriend…?"

"Yes. The most beautiful Pegasus pony I've ever laid my eyes on. I bet she's worried sick about me by now."

"Well, I'm glad that you do have a such a sweet sounding marefriend." She said. Harold got the feeling that she was disappointed when he mentioned his marefriend. "Well, I supposed we should talk about why you're here today. Did you need a suit made for you or tailored? I have the perfect design in mind. Maybe with some emeralds or topaz on it to really make your mane and eyes pop."

He declined before explaining his situation and why he was there.

"I am more than happy to help, darling." She said.

"Thank you so much. I appreciate that." Harold said as he entered the boutique.

"Now, let's get to getting you a fabulous new cutie mark, shall we?" She asked.

Harold nodded and followed her into a room that was filled with sewing machines, fabric on shelves as well as decorations for outfits. He also noticed a chest that was filled with rubies.

"Why do you use jewels on your costumes?" He asked.

"Nothing gives that perfect outfit that extra push and pizzazz like a few rubies or emeralds." She replied.

"Nice. So, what do you want me to help you with?" He asked.

She went over to a clothing rack and used her magic to hold up a peasant outfit. "This is a costume I'm trying to finish, but it's so drab compared to what I'm used to making. I made the client I was making the costume for upset by adding jewels to it. Maybe you could help me finish it?"

"I'll don't know. I've never used a sewing machine though." He said.

"Ah. Well, we can come back to that for now. Let's do the project that Spike is helping me with. Spike, you can come in now." She called.

Spike walked in, wearing a frilly, pink dress and looking rather upset about it.

"I can show y-" There was a sudden crash and the sound of a loud mewl. "Oh, I'll be right back! Hang on, Opal! Momma's coming!"

He watched her run out of the room as she went to check on her cat. He picked up the dress and looked at it. He saw a few areas that needed to be sewn on it. He looked at the sewing machine and grabbed a roll of thread from the shelf that was the same color as the fabric before putting it onto the machine. Once it was set up, he put the part of the dress he needed to sew under the needle. He pressed the pedal to start the machine and slowly pushed the fabric through it. He finished sewing it on the first try before seeing some parts needed to be hoof stitched. He looked through some of the drawers and found the sewing needles. He threaded the thread through the loop at the bottom of the needle before starting to sew the sleeves on the dress. He looked up as Rarity came back into the room.

"Sorry about that. Opal got her paw caught- What are you doing?" She asked.

"I just thought I'd get started on the alterations for the dress." He said.

She used her magic to grab the dress from him. "No, you shouldn't have without my instruction! I had some very specific plans for some parts of the dress! It'll take me forever to undo this! The hemming is…well, the sleeves are…wait... you did this work all by yourself? It's absolutely perfect! This is the exact design I had in mind! How did you know to do that?"

"I guess I just have a knack for it, or good instincts." He said. His flank then lit up as it changed to a needle with a piece of thread hanging from it. He smiled at having been successful in getting a new cutie mark.

"Your cutie mark is fabulous! It's so fitting! If it wouldn't be too much trouble, would you stay to help me with the other costumes and the outfit I need Spike's help with?" She asked.

"I can stay for a bit and help." He said.

Spike walked in, wearing a suit that was in need of some tailoring. He helped Rarity adjust the sleeves and hem it so it fit Spike properly.

"Is this suit for Spike?" Harold asked.

"Yes, it is. It's a new suit I made for him to wear to the Grand Galloping Gala. His last one was a bit messy and I want everypony that was there to have something fresh to wear."

"But, I didn't go to the last Gala…" Spike said.

"Oh, dear, that's right. Oh, well, consider it a special gift from me." She said, before kissing his cheek. Spike blushed as he smiled at Rarity.

"Wow, this is the best gift ever! I'll cherish it forever!"

"You're very welcome." Rarity said, before looking over at Harold. "Harold, is something wrong?"

Harold had tensed up a bit as the nightmare the entity had shown him popped into his head. He knew that Luna had told him that the nightmare did not show him events that actually happened, but as the images of his parents being killed after attending the Grand Galloping Gala, on that awful night filled his mind, he couldn't shake the feeling that it was real.

"Did I say something wrong, Harold?" Rarity asked, snapping him back to the present.

"N-No, you didn't. I was just…thinking about the last Gala. Getting slimed is not something you really forget so easily." He responded.

"Agreed. That would be a reason to be on edge when hearing the gala mentioned. Will you be attending this one? It's coming up very soon." She said.

"Yes. I was invited by Princess Celestia, being her magic advisor."

"You're Princess Celestia's magic advisor? Is that something she's always had?"

"Not that I know of. To be honest, you're the second one I've told that to who has had that reaction."

"Well, I guess it's something new. Makes sense since the last few attacks on Equestria were from magical beings with magic that was somewhat difficult to counter."

"That's very true."

"Alright, Spike. I just need to make a few finishing touches and it'll be complete!"

She used her magic to levitate the suit off of Spike and walked over to the sewing machine. Harold then noticed a small, white cat with a bow in her hair walk into the room. The cat mewled loudly, holding one of its paws off the ground. Rarity looked over before running over to the cat. "Opal, darling, what's wrong?" She asked before the cat mewled again, gesturing to its paw. "Oh, no, when your paw got caught, did you hurt it? Oh, I don't have time to run all the way to Fluttershy's right now! What do I do?"

"It looks pretty serious. Can the projects wait until your cat is better?" Harold asked. "If not, I can take her. I was going to head over there after this, anyway." He said.

"You would? Thank you so, so, so much! I owe you one!" She said, before turning to Opal. "Alright, Opal, the nice stallion is going to take you to Fluttershy's cottage. You be a good kitty, and I'll come pick you up later on."

Opal glared at Rarity before hissing at her when she tried to pick the cat up to give her to Harold.

"I know you're mad because I'm not taking you myself. I'm sorry. I'll get you anything you want afterwards. Deal?" She asked. Opal looked at her before nodding and limping over to Harold. Harold knelt down so Opal could jump onto his back.

"Thank you again. I really do appreciate it." She said before going back to work.

"You're welcome." He said, before leaving her house and headed towards Fluttershy's.

He walked through the town, not seeing a cottage anywhere, before realizing that he had no idea where Fluttershy's cottage was. He then felt something slap him on the back of the head and looked back to see Opal looking at him annoyed, before pointing to a path that led away from the town. Opal directed him on where to go and soon he came to a very isolated cottage. As he approached the door, he could hear a lot of animal sounds coming from inside of the building. He knocked and waited for an answer. The door opened slowly as a yellow Pegasus with a pink mane opened the door partially, peeking out at him.

"H-Hello. Can I-I help you?" She asked. He could tell she was scared of him, and wondered why that was. He didn't know that it was just her natural personality to be overly cautious of everypony she came across, and was generally a scaredy cat.

"Hello. My name is Harold. Are you Fluttershy?" He asked.

"Y-Yes, that's me."

"Rarity sent me." He said, before turning around so she could see Opal, who mewled at her. She immediately gasped and grabbed Opal before taking her inside.

"Oh, you poor thing. You've hurt your paw. Is it broken?" She asked as she held Opal's paw, the cat meowing in pain as Fluttershy inspected it. "Oh, thank goodness. It's not broken. Just a bit sore. Don't you worry. I'll have you feel better in no time." She said before going to get her medical supplies. He stood in the doorway, unsure if he should enter the cottage. "Oh, please, come in and make yourself comfortable. If I had known you had an injured cat with you, I would have let you in right away."

He walked into the house, looking around at all the critters she had in her house.

"I see you like animals a lot." He said, before seeing her cutie mark was three butterflies.

"Yes. I feel very comfortable around my animal friends. Talking to and taking care of animals is what I do best." She said.

"So, you're a vet and can understand what they're saying then?"

Fluttershy nodded

"Sort of, but on a much more personal level." She said, before turning to Opal. "Now, let's get your paw patched up."

He watched as Fluttershy took some medical ointment to numb any pain that Opal was experiencing before wrapping Opal's paw in gauze. Once she was done, she stood back to look at her work.

"There you go. Just remember not to put too much pressure on it, ok?" Opal nodded and purred as she rubbed up against Fluttershy.

"Oh, you're very welcome." She said, petting the cat softly.

"Wow, that was impressive to watch." Harold said.

"Oh, it's nothing special." Fluttershy responded.

"I think it is."

"Oh, thank you. So, was Opal the only reason you came here?"

"No, that's not the only reason why, but it's kind of hard to explain."

Opal looked up at Fluttershy and meowed a few times before pointing at Harold's cutie mark. "So, Harold has a cutie mark problem and we're supposed to help him find his real cutie mark?" Fluttershy asked. Opal nodded before walking away to go rest on some blankets that were in the corner of the room.

"Oh, wow, um, thanks, Opal. But yes, that's the gist of it. Though, what can I do to try and get an animal related cutie mark?"

"Well, there are many different animal related cutie marks. Let's try different activities with my animal friends that might give you a cutie mark. I was just about to bath all of the animals. Maybe you might get a cutie mark doing that."

He nodded as she flew over to a group of animals in the house. "Alright, everypony, it's bath time." Harold smiled as he saw the animals cheer and follow her outside. He noticed a small, white rabbit that did not follow.

"Do you need to wash this one, too?" He asked. Fluttershy flew over to the rabbit, landing in front of him.

"Come on, Angel Bunny. It's time for your bubble bath." The rabbit looked at her with an annoyed expression before turning his back on her. "Angel, you need to be cleaned. Please." The rabbit continued to ignore her as he hopped over to his bed and curled up in it.

"Is he always this difficult?" Harold asked.

"Sometimes, but he's really a sweet bunny. He just knows what he likes and doesn't like." Fluttershy said before going over to Angel. "If I promise you can have your favorite meal at snack time, will you take your bath?" Angel sat up, looking at her, before nodding and hopping onto her head, causing Fluttershy to smile as she walked outside. Harold followed her as he watched her talk to the animals. "Harry, can you get the bathtubs for me, please? And birds, can you get the hose and soap? I'd appreciate it."

The animals went to get the equipment. Harold was impressed, but wondered if the shy pony was showing off her talent a bit for him, or if she always had her animals do some things for her. Either way, he found it admirable how strong the connection she had with her animals were. He realized for her to be friends with Twilight and the others, she must really trust them. Fluttershy filled the different sized wooden tubs with water from the hose. Harold walked over as Fluttershy gave him a bar of soap before starting to help her wash some of the smaller animals. Once they finished, he looked at his flank to see if it changed, but nothing happened.

"Nothing? Well, there's still more to try." Fluttershy said.

Harold continued to try different activities that Fluttershy suggested. He tried animal grooming, having a tea party with her animals, helping build shelters for the smaller animals, and finally tried helping her tend to some injuries a couple of animals got when roughhousing too hard with each other. Harold sighed.

"I don't think this is going to work." He said.

"Well, there's still one more thing that we can try. It's snack time now. You can help me feed them." Fluttershy said before flying over to the animals. "It's meal time!"

The animals followed her into the house and Fluttershy started to hand out food. Harold grabbed some nuts and berries before giving them to the different animals. When he got to Angel, he gave him a few carrots before turning around to give out more food. After he turned around, he felt something hit him in the back of the head and saw a carrot at his feet. He looked back at Angel, who was looking at him with an impatient, angry glare.

"What? Rabbits eat carrots, don't they?" He asked before Angel threw another carrot at him, which he dodged before looking at the rabbit with an unamused look. "Fine, I get you don't want the carrots. So, what do you want?"

He watched as Angel hopped over to a shelf and pulled a book off of it. The rabbit hopped to the floor and opened it to a fancy looking salad.

"Um, Fluttershy…" He called. Fluttershy walked over and saw the open book.

"Angel, you should eat what you're given. Here, have some cucumber." She said, grabbing one and putting it beside Angel, who turned his back to it. "Besides, I don't have the ingredients for this salad. What's wrong with the carrots or cucumbers?" Angel hopped up and down, throwing a tantrum as he pointed at the book again. "No, Angel. Eat your perfectly good food." She then gave Angel an intense stare, that startled Harold a bit before Angel submitted and picked up the cucumber before eating it.

"Wow. What was that?" He asked.

"What? You mean, my stare? It's something that I developed for being able to get the attention of animals and to get them to do what I want them to do. Some of them can be stubborn, like Angel, but they all know I do it out of love and would never hurt them." She said.

"That's pretty impressive and not something I would expect from a pony like you." He said.

"Pony…like me?"

"Well, it's just, you're so shy and timid, that intimidating stare isn't the first thing that comes to mind. Sorry if that was offensive in any way."

"It wasn't. I was just confused, for a bit. Thank you for the compliment."

"You're welcome. Thank you for your help with Angel."

"You're very welcome. So, did you get a cutie mark from feeding the animals."

"I don't th-" He was then interrupted as his flank glowed and a lettuce, tomato and carrot appeared on his flank. "Never mind. I guess it did work."

"That's a wonderful cutie mark to have. I hope you get to keep it."

"So, do I. Thank you so much for helping me."

"You're welcome. Come back any time."

"I will. I still have to see Rainbow Dash. Have a good day."  
Fluttershy nodded and walked him to the door. He waved to her as he walked back towards town. He enjoyed getting to know Fluttershy and was surprised at how diverse the personality of Twilight's friends was. He expected that they would be similar to Twilight, but they were nothing like her so far. He wondered what Rainbow Dash would be like as he headed to find her.

He went to her house, but after knocking a few times, there was no answer. He figured she must be in the town doing something and went there to find her. He looked at the ponies in the crowds walking around. He couldn't find her and decided to go to Twilight, thinking she would know where to find her friend. He entered the castle, seeing Twilight walking through the hall, carrying a book with her.

"Hi Harold. Nice cutie mark. Who did you get that one from?" She asked.

"I got this one from Fluttershy for feeding her animals. I also got a needle and thread from Rarity. I wanted to see Rainbow next, but she wasn't at her home. Do you know where I could find her?"

"Oh, well, I'm not sure. She could be napping somewhere, or performing aerial tricks, or any number of things. I would check the edge of town and the park, since those are the two places she frequently goes."

"Okay, I'll check there and hope she's in one of those two places. What are you reading?"

"I received a letter from Princess Celestia asking me to look something up for her."

"What did she ask you to look up?"

"Just some ancient magic. I have a bunch of books on them, and since you're here and she doesn't know that, she probably asked me to find something in your absence."

He nodded. "I hope she's not too worried about me. Thank you for the information about Rainbow Dash. I'll let you know how it goes."

"Please, do."

He left the castle, heading to the park first. He didn't see any sign of anypony sleeping in the area, so he went to check the edge of town. He looked up in the sky, looking for anypony. He then noticed a sleeping Pegasus laying on top of a cloud. While he hated to bother her, he figured she might know where Rainbow Dash is.

"Excuse me?" He called up to her and didn't see her react. "Excuse me?!" The Pegasus pony was startled as she fell out of the tree. She opened her wings to stop her fall and landed on the ground.

"Hey, what gives? I was in the middle of an awesome nap, in case you couldn't tell!" She said, glaring at him.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. I'm looking for a pony named Rainbow Dash. Do you know where I can find her?" He asked.

"You're talking to her. You a fan or something? Want a picture? An autograph? It's only natural you would." She said.

"No, I don't need a picture or an autograph." He said. "Why would I?"

He was surprised when she looked at him with a completely shocked expression.

"Why wouldn't you? I'm a well-known wonderbolt and saved the world a bunch of times! You wouldn't want an autograph from me after that?" She asked.

"Oh, well, I didn't mean to offend you."

"Well, you did and woke me from my nap, which you better have a good reason for doing!"

"I do. Let me explain." He said, before taking a deep breath as he explained everything that's happened to him up until now. "So, now I'm here to try and get a cutie mark from you. Will you help me? In exchange, I'll help you with whatever you want to make up for interrupting your nap."

"Well, why didn't you just say so? I hope you're ready to get the greatest cutie mark of your life!" She said. "I think I'll take you up on that offer. I have a stunt I've been dying to try and I need an assistant to help me with it."

"I'll be more than willing to help with that. So, what does your cutie mark signify? Most of the cutie marks I've gotten have been related to what the pony already has." He said.

"This awesome cutie mark represents my incredible speed and endurance that rivals anypony." She said.

"And the cloud?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm also head of the weather team in Cloudsdale, but that's not really related, since I got the cutie mark from a race. Besides, I don't think an Earth pony would be able to do anything weather related."

"Yeah, that is true. So, speed and endurance…what should I do to get a cutie mark in that?"

"Hmm…"

He noticed that Rainbow seemed hesitant all of a sudden. He gave her a confused look, hoping she wasn't about to go back on her word to help him.

"What is it?" He asked.

"On second thought, as much as I want to help you, um…name…?" Rainbow asked.

"Harold."

"As much as I want to help you, Harold, that is _my_ special talent. The others might be alright with you having a similar cutie mark, but I can't really risk you stealing my thunder, you know? I do have a reputation to uphold as the fastest Wonderbolt of all time."

"Pardon?" Harold asked, finding her arrogant, egotistical boasting a bit annoying.

"We'll get you an awesome cutie mark in something else!"

"Alright. I guess it doesn't matter as long as I get a cutie mark in something."

"Glad to hear you're on board! Let's go!"

She then took him around Ponyville, having him try different sports out. He tried soccer, hoofball, baseball, field hockey, volleyball, basketball and much more. As he did all of them, he had no interest in them, or found them fun at all. He started to get very tired by the end of it.

"Nothing so far as worked. If I promise to not 'steal your thunder' as you put it, will you help me get a similar cutie mark to the one you have? That's what has worked for the others."

"Ugh, fine…Well, let's have a race, and I know the perfect place for it! Follow me."

He followed her as she took him to the edge of a large gorge. He looked down into it and saw that there were steep drops, a bridge over an area that had stalagmites underneath it as well as a furiously, bubbling stream in the middle of it. He then noticed a sign next to them that read, "Deadly. Keep Out!" in bright, red lettering. He looked up at her as she landed next to him, starting to stretch her legs and wings.

"I'm sorry, but what exactly do you have in mind?" He asked.

"This is where we're going to have the race, duh!" She responded.

"Um, maybe I didn't make this clear, but I have no intentions of dying…" He pointed the sign as he said that, hoping she would come to her senses and tell him that this was a prank or joke of hers, though he didn't find it very amusing.

"Pfft, you're not going to die. I've run this course plenty of times! It's completely harmless!" She said, before thinking, _"As long as you have the speed and reflexes for it."_

"So, where are we racing to?" He asked.

"We race down the side of the gorge, over the rickety bridge above the stalagmites, swim across the rapids, and then climb out of the gorge. First pony to the other side wins."

"Wins what?"

"Bragging rights, of course!"

Harold rolled his eyes. _"This better give me a cutie mark. I don't want to risk my life for nothing."_ He thought.

He looked down into the gorge, mapping out a path in his head. He then took a deep breath, to calm his mind and nerves before standing back.

"Alright, let's do it." He said.

"What, you actually want to race me through here?" She asked.

"What, you nervous? I thought this gorge was no problem for you?" He retorted.

"It's not… I just don't want to make you cry when I beat you." She said.

"You talk big. So, let's put your words to the test."

He stretched for a bit, before nodding to Rainbow.

"Alright. On your mark, get set, GO!" Rainbow shouted.

He took off down the side of the gorge, watching as Rainbow zoomed past him. He ran as fast as he could, as he came to the rickety bridge. He saw that she was already way ahead of him and started to cross the bridge. As soon as he put a bit of pressure on it, it shook violently. He stopped before continuing once the bridge seemed to stabilize. About halfway across the bridge, he heard a loud snapping noise, before feeling the bridge jolt precariously. He looked behind him and saw that the ropes started to snap as the boards fell into the spiked abyss below. He tried to go forward, but the planks in front of him also started to fall.

"Rainbow! Rainbow Dash, help!" He shouted.

Rainbow looked back in horror as she saw the bridge give away and Harold disappear from sight as he fell into the abyss. "Hang on, Harold. I'm coming!" She shouted as she spread her wings, taking to the sky. She turned around and dived into the abyss, a rainbow blur following her as she picked up her speed until she was flying at full speed.

Harold screamed as he continued to free fall closer and closer to the stalagmites, that threatened to impale him. He closed his eyes, expecting to feel pain, but was surprised when he felt himself start to rise into the air instead of falling. He looked up to see Rainbow flapping her wings as hard as could to lift them out of the abyss. He laid down on the ground, breathing heavily as he tried to calm himself after that near death experience.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

"Yeah. I'll be fine. Just a bit shaken." He said, as he stood up. He noticed she wasn't folding one of her wings against her body fully. "Is your wing alright?"

"I think I pulled something when I was lifting you out of the abyss."

"Can you fly?"

He watched Rainbow spread her wings and try to hover but couldn't for even a second before landing from the pain in her wing.

"It doesn't seem like it. Also, I have something to confess."

"What is it?"

"I've never actually run through here, at all."

Harold stared at her, opened mouthed. "What?"

"It was all talk and I almost got you killed for it. I'm really, really sorry! If you want to call it quits, I'm totally fine with that."

"Well, with the bridge out and your wing being injured, we can't go back. Even if we don't race, we should at least help each other get out of the gorge through the path you dictated."

"Alright, I'm down with that plan."

Harold walked with her towards the next obstacle, which was the raging river in the middle of the gorge. Harold looked around and saw some stepping stones they could use. He started to cross the rocks as Rainbow followed him. "Watch your step." He said to her, as he almost lost his balance from the rocks being wet and slippery. He got to the other side and turned around to watch Rainbow finish crossing. Suddenly, the raging water swelled right where she was standing and when the waves hit her legs, it knocked them out from underneath her body, and she fell into the water. She flailed as she was swept away by the current, disappearing under the water a couple of time.

"Harold…Help!" She cried.

"Hang on, Rainbow!" He yelled back. He looked around frantically for something he could use to save her. He saw a lone tree at the edge of the river and ran over to it. Peeking over the edge, a massive waterfall that led to jagged rocks below is what awaited Rainbow, if he didn't act quickly enough. He went over the tree, bucking it, but nothing happened.

" _Only if I had the apple cutie mark Applejack helped me get…What do I do?"_ He thought before just trying to push the tree over. The tree moved a bit, leaning over as the loose rocks the roots were under shifted. He continued to push the tree as it seemed to be stuck now, but not low enough for Rainbow to grab it. He pushed as hard as he could, feeling the tree give as the branches landed in the water. Rainbow grabbed them as he walked over to her and pulled her up onto the tree, before making sure she got to solid land safely.

"Thank you so much. You saved my life!" She said.

"You're welcome. I guess that makes us even." He said.

"You bet, but how were able to push that tree over?" She asked, before noticing his flank. "Oh, that's how."

He looked down and realized in his panic, he hadn't noticed his cutie mark change. It was now a muscular pony arm flexing.

"I think that would qualify as an awesome cutie mark." Rainbow said, smiling at him.

"I agree, and it's certainly not what I was expecting." He said.

"Yeah. Well, what do you say we get out of here?"

Harold nodded and climbed out of the gorge. After they were both out safely, they walked back to town, chatting casually as they did. He noticed the sun starting to set on the horizon as they reached Twilight's castle.

"Good night, Harold. Sorry again about that whole thing. I know I didn't make the best first impression." She said.

"It's fine, Rainbow. I'm just glad that it paid off in the end and I learned you're not that bad to hang out with." He said.

"Well, that's good to hear. I promise, the next time we hang, it won't involve gorges or rivers."

They both had a good laugh at that before he waved to Rainbow as she ran home.

He went into the castle, smelling something cooking in the air. He followed the smell to the kitchen, where Spike was making something on the stove.

"Hey, Spike. What are you making? Smells great!" Harold said.

"I'm just making some hay pasta with a tomato cream sauce." Spike said.

"Sounds good. Do you need any help?"

"No, I think I'm good. Twilight is in the dining hall, if you're looking for her."

"I wasn't, but thank you for letting me know."

He went to talk to Twilight and tell her about what happened today. After they ate dinner, he went to his room to get some sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

As he fell asleep, his vision became all red, just like the night before as he found himself floating in the dark dreamscape again.

"You thought you could get rid of me?" Harold felt a chill run down his spine as he heard the dark entity's voice again.

"What are you doing here? I thought Luna blocked you!"

"Luna's spell couldn't block a measly mouse, let alone a powerful being like myself! Besides, she rudely interrupted us last time. I still have some more things to reveal to you."

"I don't want it! I don't need to s-"

"Order! Order in the court!"

He looked up to see a grey, elderly judge and that he was in a court room, sitting in the audience as the jury came back in from discussing the trial. He figured this must be the trial for his parents that Celestia put together, or ordered. He looked around for Princess Celestia and saw her sitting in the balcony, watching everything. The judge banged his mallet onto the table to get the audience to quiet down.

"Court will now resume. Our jury has deliberated, and the time had come to hear their verdict." He said. Everypony looked over at the jury, the room dead silent as they waited to hear what had been decided in the case.

One of the jurors stood up, holding a piece of paper. He cleared his throat before starting to speak.

"Your honor, we, members of the jury find the defendant, Thomas M. Nightgale…not guilty of first degree ponyslaughter. We do, however, find him guilty of robbery and use of illegal unicorn magic." He said before sitting down.

"Very well. For the charges you have been found guilty of, we will subject the defendant to 720 hours of community service. Court dismissed!" The judge said.

Instantly, the audience was in an uproar, outraged by the jury's decision and so was Harold. He looked up at the balcony where Celestia was and her face showed no emotion as she got up and started to walk out.

" _What? She…She's just going to let him walk?! She saw him kill my dad and she's not going to say anything? She could override the verdict, or something!"_ He thought as he ran to the stairs, blocking the way, trying to stop her, but she walked through him. "Go back! Tell them what you saw! Make them change their verdict! Do something useful for once, you dumb, fat whorse!" He shouted at her, but his cries went unheard as she walked out of the building, presumably to go back to her castle and be pampered. His body was shaking with anger. He wanted to kick or destroy something. The doors to the courtroom opened and the murderer walked past, a smug grin on his face that felt like it mocking him. Harold tried to punch him and hurt him, but his ethereal hooves passed through the unicorn's body as he walked his way to freedom.

His vision turned all red again as the voice spoke to him again.

"You see the truth? Princess Celestia is no saint. None of the princesses are. Find me and free me, and we can serve them the justice that you yearn for." The dark entity said.

"N-No. I refuse. Even if what you showed me is real, I can't take my anger out on the Princess. You're just trying to fool me into becoming bitter with hate! Well, I'm not going to fall for it! Leave me alone, and go show your lies to somepony else!" He shouted.

"So foalish and naïve, but soon you'll see the full, undeniable truth." The dark entity responded.

Harold was shown more memories, even though he wanted them to stop. He saw he was sent to live with a foster family. For some reason, they thought having a unicorn family take care of him was a good idea. The family wasn't as caring as his mom and dad had been and their son picked on him and bullied him, since the colt now had a fear of unicorns. It affected his life, but as he grew up, he became more and more determined to find a way for Earth ponies to use unicorn magic. Being a scientist, he had everything at his disposal, except the support he needed. Others around him thought he was crazy or foolish, for wasting his time on it. To him, it was important. He felt if his family had the ability to use magic to defend themselves, they wouldn't have been killed. It led up to the events, where he used a dark spell to gain access to unicorn magic and killed his marefriend with it.

"S-Scarlet is…dead…? No, that can't be true!" Harold said, tears streaming down his face.

"It is the truth. Unlike others, I have told you no lies. Do not weep for her. The mare deserved it."

"No, she did not! You claim to have told no lies, yet you have just told me one!"

"Have I? When you killed her, I rooted around in the mare's head and found this."

He was suddenly surrounded by flowers and fauna, which he recognized as the Canterlot Garden. He would sometimes come here with Scarlet, just to relax and cuddle with her after a long, hard day of work. He walked around, wondering why he was being shown this, when he heard a slight giggle.

" _I know that giggle. That was Scarlet!"_ He followed the sounds of whispering voices before stumbling upon a secluded section. He heard the giggle again, much louder this time and heard a deeper voice accompanying it. He pulled the foliage back and immediate felt his heart drop into his stomach. He saw Scarlet, cuddling with one of the Pegasus guards. He thought that maybe she was being coerced into this situation by the stallion, but all excuses he was trying to come up with in his head were disintegrated when he clearly saw her pull the stallion in for a kiss. It was a small kiss either. It was deep, sexual and he could feel the strong emotion put behind it.

"No, no, why are you showing me lies? This has to be wrong! We were in love! She would never have…!"

"What, cheated on you? Look deep in your heart. You know it to be true. The nights she would mysteriously be working in the medical ward late; when she would suddenly cancel or change plans you two previously made and agreed on. Most of the time, she was going to meet with this stallion. Stop resisting the truth!"

"But…if it is true…if all of it is true…then everypony I've ever known has lied to me…" As it sank in, all of the deceit he had been exposed to, his mind started to bend and crack under the pressure. But the deceit that hurt the most was Scarlet's. He could feel his heart breaking as he looked at the scene playing out in front of him, and turned away from it.

"Is there anymore deceit I should know about? Why didn't I remember what actually happened to my parents? That is something that is bothering me."

"I have the answer to that as w-"

"Enough!" In a bright flash, Luna appeared in front of him. "I will not have you making a mockery of my sister, evil one!"

"Luna, such a pest…But, you're oblivious to what your sister does during the day, aren't you? This will be enlightening for you as well." The dark entity said, with a chuckle before the two of them were transported to one of the conference rooms in Canterlot Castle.

"What are you up to, evil spirit?" Luna asked.

"Showing you both the true nature of Celestia." The dark entity said.

"Look over there." Harold said, point to the far end of the table in the room. At the table sat Harold and Celestia. He noticed that the version of himself he was looking at had a beaker cutie mark.

"So, what can I do for you today?" Celestia asked.

"I was wondering if you could help me in my research." He said.

"What is it you have been researching?" She asked.

"Well, I've been studying unicorn magic and the essence of magic that exists in Earth ponies. I was wondering if you of a way Earth ponies could use unicorn magic?" He asked.

Celestia looked at him with a puzzled look. "I believe that is not possible in any realm of magic. May I ask why you are trying to discover a way to do the unimaginable?"

"I don't know if you remember, but do the names Mary and James Farnsworth, ring any bells?" He asked.

"Hmm…I cannot say with certainty they do. Who are they?"

"They're my parents. Or they were."

"Oh, I see. I am deeply sorry for your loss."

"You should be. They're dead because of you!"

"Because of me? What did I do?"

Harold stood on the table, visibly shaking with anger as he glared at Celestia. "More like what you _didn't_ do! You were there the night they were killed and for the trial afterwards, but the killer got a minor punishment and you did nothing to give him the sentence he deserved!"

"Please, calm down. I-"

"Don't you dare tell me to calm down, you whorse!"

"I will not have you talk to me that way. I know you are upset over the death of your parents, and I give you my condolences, but I will not take the blame for something that was not my fault." Celestia said as she looked at him with a very stern look, but he seemed to not be intimidated by the princess sitting in front of him as he charged at Celestia menacingly. She grabbed him with her magic before he could land one blow. She put her horn to his head, and he slowly passed out. She set him down on the floor and after a few moments, Harold sat up, looking around dazed.

"Wh-What's going on? Where am I?" He asked.

"We were having a meeting and you suddenly passed out. Are you alright?" She asked.

"Yes, I think so. I'm sorry for passing out on you, Princess. What were we meeting about?"

"You were telling me about your research and I offered you a position as my magic advisor. You passed out before you could give me an answer, however. So, would you like the position?"

"I'd love to be your magic advisor! Wait, but why would want an Earth pony as your magic advisor? Wouldn't a unicorn be more fitting for that kind of position?"

"Normally, but you have insight into magic that most unicorns don't, so I think it will be very eye opening for the both of us."

"Well, thank you, Princess. I promise, I'll be the best magic advisor you've ever had!"

The vision then faded back to the all red surroundings that Harold was too familiar with.

"What you have shown must be false! Celestia would never mess with a pony's memories like that!" Luna said, angrily.

"No, I think it was real…" Harold said.

"No, you mustn't trust anything he says!" Luna said.

"Why? Should I trust you, when you've already lied to me?" Harold asked. "Don't try and tell me you haven't. Those early nightmares were actually memories. I realize that now. Why'd you tell me they weren't?"

"It-It was for your own protection! I was only looking out for you, and your well-being!" Luna said.

"Sure you were. I can't trust anypony…" He said.

"Well, Twilight and her friends have not lied to you, have they?" She asked.

"No, though Rainbow Dash did almost get me killed. That doesn't really earn them any trust points."

"I assure you that Twilight and her friends would not do anything to harm you. I am sorry my sister and I have."

"It's a little late for that, but you do have a point. They haven't betrayed me yet."

"And they won't! I assure you, they are the most dependable ponies I know!"

"You really believe her? She's lied to you once. What's to keep her from doing it again?" The dark voice said.

Harold put his head in his hooves. "Look, I just want to wake up for now."

"I believe you understand enough to make the correct choice. You may awake." The dark entity said before the red dreamscape disappeared along with Luna as Harold woke up. 

Harold groaned as the sunlight blinded him for a few seconds as he sat up. He felt even more drained than usual as he got up. Everything he had seen swirled around in head as well as the conflicting feelings that came with them. He didn't know what to think. Part of him wanted to forgive and forget for what happened in the past, but at the same time, he wanted to be bitter at Celestia and Luna, go find the medallion the dark entity was being kept in and destroy them both. He wanted to see the fear in their eyes as he crushed them underhoof. He cringed from the thought.

" _I can't take my anger out on them! I have to remain strong and keep that dark entity from winning. He's just trying to get under my skin, figuratively and literally. I can't let that happen!"_ He thought.

He got up from the bed slowly, sighing softly, before he went to get breakfast like usual. As he walked closer and closer to the dining room, he could hear voices coming from inside the room. He peeked in and saw Twilight and her friends were all sitting at the table, chatting amongst themselves. Harold entered the room, closing the door behind him, getting their attention.

"Mornin', Harold!" Applejack said.

"Morning, everypony. I wasn't expecting to see you here today." Harold said.

"We're having pancakes for breakfast! Here you go!" Pinkie said, putting a large stack of pancakes in front of him, that was too tall for him to see over. "I made them myself!"

"They look good. Thank you, Pinkie. So, what brings all of you to Twilight's castle, other than breakfast?" He asked as he started to eat the food in front of him, finding the taste to be very satisfying, enjoying them.

"The Grand Galloping Gala is tomorrow night, so we've gotten together to try and plan what we are going to do for the night." Rarity said.

"Wait…The Gala is tomorrow?! Oh, I completely forgot that it was that soon! I don't have my suit with me!" Harold said.

"That's perfectly alright. I've finished the suit for Spike, and the other projects I was working on, so I have plenty of time to work on a suit for you. I normally don't do male attire, but if making this suit for you goes well, I may just have to consider adding a male line to my work." Rarity said.

"That would be great and I'll pay you whatever you'd like for it." He said.

"No charge necessary. You helped me with my project, so consider it a sign of gratitude for your generosity."

"I really appreciate that." He said.

"I'm so glad that you're attending the Gala. I'm sure Princess Celestia will be happy to see you, after being gone for so long." Twilight said.

"I certainly hope so, and that she won't be upset with me for not going back to Canterlot right away." He said.

"I'm sure she won't be upset. She's a very understanding pony." Twilight said.

"Yeah, I'm sure she is." Harold said, before continuing to eat his food.

Twilight and her friends looked at each other with a questioning look, as Harold suddenly seemed to have negative reaction to that.

"Why did you react like that?" Twilight asked.

"React like what?" He asked.

"You seemed, I don't know, upset, when I said that about Celestia." She replied

"Oh, did I? Sorry. I haven't been sleeping very well, as you know." He said.

"Still having nightmares?" She asked. Harold nodded.

"Nightmares? Somepony want to explain to the rest of us what in the hay you all are talking about?" Applejack asked.

"Don't worry about it. It's nothing." Harold said.

"You sure? It certainly doesn't seem like nothing." Rarity said.

"I said I'm fine!" Harold shouted, causing a dead silence to fill the room. He sighed deeply before taking another bite of his food and getting up from the table.

"Where are you going?" Twilight asked.

"Going to Rarity's boutique to wait for her there." He said, leaving the room before anypony could protest. The others sat there, in confusion and shock. Spike came in, walking up to the table and sitting down where Harold had been.

"What's wrong with Harold? I said, good morning to him and he didn't respond." Spike said.

"We don't know. He said he hasn't been sleeping well. Maybe that's why he's so grumpy." Twilight said.

"I can speak from experience that not gettin' a good night's rest can really make you crazier than a group of cows stuck in a pig pen at a week-long rodeo." Applejack said.

"I can relate. I know I get cranky when I don't get my seven-hour nap in the middle of the day." Spike said.

"I'm sure he'll be fine. Like he said, it's nothing. If it was something to be worried about, he would have told us." Rainbow said.

"Yeah. He doesn't seem like the type to keep in his feelings." Fluttershy said.

"I agree. Now, let's eat before the pancakes get cold!" Pinkie said before taking a huge bite out of the stack of pancakes in front of her. The others laughed, before eating their breakfast as well.

Harold paced back and forth outside of Rarity's boutique. He wondered what was taking her so long, when he heard hoofsteps coming towards him. He looked up, seeing Rarity walk over to him.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting." She said, as she took her key out and went into the boutique, before holding the door for him.

"It's alright. Have a good breakfast?" He asked.

"I did. Now, let's take your measurements so I know how the suit should fit." She said.

He nodded and followed her directions as she took a measuring tape to measure his chest, collar, the length of his back, the radius of his legs, and a few others. Once she had them all, she went over to the rack with different fabrics on it.

"Are you looking for a sturdier feel to the suit, or you want something that breathes?" She asked. "I want to make sure you're comfortable while wearing it, of course."

"I think something that breathes would be nice." He said.

She nodded and took a roll of fabric off the rack before putting it into a rack holder next to her workbench. She continued to ask him about what he wanted for the design, color, and the gems she would use on it. He didn't choose too many gems since he didn't want to draw too much attention to himself at the gala. After his memories coming back to him, he wasn't too thrilled about attending another.

Rarity had put some loose parts of the suit together and had him wear them so she could adjust them accordingly. She noticed he was fidgeting a bit as she pinned some of the fabric in place.

"Dear, I'm going to need you to stop moving. It would be terrible if I didn't pin the right spot." She said.

"Sorry. I'm not really a fan of formal attire." He said.

"Really? How? I thought all Canterlot ponies fancied formal attire. Some even wear it on a daily basis." She said.

"Ever since I was young, I never have. Having to wear restrictive, stuffy clothing and a tie around your neck; it's just not my taste, is all." He said.

"I see. Well, to each their own, I suppose." She said. "That's one of the reasons I wish I could live in Canterlot. I could wear my dresses all the time, upping business just from showing off my amazing, captivating designs and sense of fashion."

"That's…great…" He said. He noticed that a few of Twilight's friends tended to brag about themselves a lot. While he was happy about their accomplishments, it was getting a bit annoying that they felt the need to remind him about it whenever he was alone in their presence.

"That's why I'm so glad I have a boutique there now, and that it gets such great business!"

"Ok, I get it! Can you just continue to work on my suit, please?" He asked, with an annoyed expression on his face.

"I'm sorry…I didn't mean to upset you." She said.

She continued to work on his suit and once the pieces were pinned with the correct color coded pin. She removed them and started to sew them together.

"It will take me the rest of the day to finish it. If I need you for anything, I will let you know." Rarity said.

He nodded and walked out of the establishment. He decided to go for a walk through the town, looking around. He looked at all of the ponies passing by him. All of them had smiles on their faces, like everything was fine with the world, but inside his head, it was a whirlwind of conflicting thoughts and feelings.

" _How can any of them walk around like everything in the universe was fine? They're being ruled by a tyrant, who does as she pleases…messing with ponies' memories and way of life, just to keep her rule as clean as possible…No, she probably just didn't want me to suffer anymore and that's why she got rid of them and didn't tell me…But if that is all it was, why did Luna try to hide from me that the memories were real? It just doesn't make sense!"_ He thought as he walked. He noticed that his surroundings had become dark. _"Huh? What's going on? It's too early to be nighttime."_

The sounds of angry howls made him look up and jump a bit. It was dark, and cold, which wasn't helping ease his nerves. Just when he felt like the darkness of the forest was going to swallow him whole, he came to an open space in the forest. In front of him was an old, rickety bridge that didn't seem safe to walk on. He probably wouldn't have considered doing so if it wasn't for what he saw in the distance. In the distance, just beyond the bridge, was a small castle. It was worn down, so he could tell nopony lived there anymore, but despite that, he could feel something summoning him to that place. He tentatively crossed the bridge, glad that it didn't break as he crossed it, but jumped as he heard a snapping sound behind him. He turned around and saw that the loose vines that had barely been holding the bridge together snapped and the wooden planks plummeted into the dark abyss below.

" _Well, there's definitely no turning back now._ " He thought as he made his way to the castle. He pushed open the entrance and immediately noticed the decorations inside. There were depictions of the sun and moon everyone inside the main hall on banners that hung on the walls. He realized that this castle most likely belonged to Celestia and Luna at some point. He wondered why he had been brought there. He walked through the halls, seeing old fashioned, clunky armor lining the walls before coming to what looked like the old throne room. He saw two thrones, one large one and a smaller one next to it. He knew which one was which but Luna's was so small, it felt insignificant compared to the grander one that Celestia must have sat in.

"Insignificant…just like you are to Twilight…"

He heard the voice of the dark entity, but instead of being in his head, he heard from somewhere inside the room. He looked around for the source, but couldn't see anypony else in the vicinity, but he could definitely feel a presence. It felt like the one that had beckoned him here in the first place.

"Show yourself!" Harold shouted as he continued to look around cautiously.

"I would, but alas, I'm locked away, and only you can help me, Harold. But becoming friends, even with the Princess of Friendship, won't help you achieve your destiny. I know what your true destiny is. It's with me! Find me and I'll give you the greatest destiny you could ever dream of!"

"Stop messing with my head! Haven't you done enough? I want absolutely nothing to do with you!" Harold shouted.

"Are you sure about that? Don't you recall the fun times we had before we were torn apart from one another?" The voice asked, before laughing evilly.

Harold cringed and covered his ears, trying to block out the voice. "Shut up! Get out of my head!"

"You're the one who let me in. I may be locked away in this medallion, but the moment you completed that potion, you gave yourself to me: body, mind and soul. You know we're meant to be one again. Find me, Harold. I'll show you how much Princess Twilight Sparkle doesn't care about you or your well-being. How it's all an act. She is a princess, after all. They're all self-centered egomaniacs. You said it yourself."

"I know I did, but you made me! I don't think that about any of the princesses! Especially not about Twilight! Just, leave me alone!" He shouted, before turning to run from the castle.

As he ran, he accidentally tripped and tumbled into one of the old fashioned suits of armor lining the wall. When he hit it, the wall flipped around, sending him down a long slide. He dug his hooves into the slide as he tried to stop himself as it sloped dangerously before he was deposited in a room. He slid across the room, slamming into a wall. He stood up, thankfully unharmed, but saw he was under the castle in a dimly lit room. He grabbed the torch on the wall and ventured through the room as he tried to find a way back to the surface. He felt a mysterious energy coming from nearby, the energy drawing him to it. He walked into the hallway, but didn't see another doorway anywhere. He stopped in front of a part of the wall where the energy he was sensing became almost overwhelmingly strong. He felt along the wall before pulling down on a brick that was sticking out, causing a door to open in the wall. As he peered into the room, he could see a faint red glow. Under other circumstances, he would have turned back, ran from the place and never looked back, but the energy continued to pull him in. He walked into another room and put the torch in the holder, next to the doorway. He heard the torch holder move before the room filled with light as many other torches were lit. He noticed a box at the far end of the room. With each step he took towards the mysterious box. He grabbed the box and tried to open it, but found it was locked. He didn't see a key, or anyway to open it, and noticed that the keyhole wasn't a regular one. It had some elaborate design, and he felt that a spell would open it. He decided to take it with him, thinking that Twilight would be able to find a way to open it.


	8. Chapter 8

Harold put the box onto his back, before continuing to find his way out of the castle. After he found the trick to get back to surface, he headed back to Ponyville. He noticed some ponies give him a strange look as he walked by with the box. He quickened his pace as he headed to the castle. Upon entering, he walked through the maze of hallways in Twilight's house, eventually finding Twilight walking through the hall.

"Hi, Harold." She said, before seeing the box on his back. "What's that?"

"I'm not sure. I went for a walk and ended up in some creepy forest." He said.

"The Everfree Forest?"

"I guess so."

"Are you alright? You weren't hurt, were you? That's not the safest place for a pony to go." She asked.

"No, I'm perfectly fine, but I found an abandoned castle and this box inside of it. It's locked though. Do you think you can open it?"

"I could, but it'll take me some time. Is there something you need from it?"

"No, but, I feel like there could be something important in it."

"Alright. I'll look it over." She levitated the box over to herself and put it onto her back. He thanked her before she took the box. She went into her study, and closed the door behind her. Twilight put the box on the table before inspecting it. She didn't see anything out of the ordinary about the box itself, before focusing on the interesting keyhole and recognized it. She knew that it was in a book on ancient locks she had. She flew up to the shelf that had the book, taking it down before looking through it. She found the symbol that was on the box, and saw that only an alicorn's magic could open it.

"Well, good thing I'm an Alicorn. Though, I wonder why it has a lock like this on it in first place? I guess the only way to find out is to open it."Twilight said aloud to herself.

Twilight lit up her horn and put the tip of it into the lock. She channeled her magic into the lock, causing it to glow as her magic filled the design. Once it was completely filled, it glowed brighter before the magic surrounded the box, making it dissolve completely, leaving the medallion on the table. She picked it up, inspecting it, before gasping as she recognized the symbol on the front of the medallion.

"Th-This is a symbol of dark magic! Why would Harold want this?!" She asked aloud.

"Because, his soul belongs to me!" The dark entity said as the medallion glowed red before it teleported to Harold. Harold was startled when the medallion appeared in front of him.

"Put the medallion on, and let us merge once more." The entity said. Harold grabbed the medallion and put it around his neck. When he did, his whole body was surrounded in red energy as he regained his dark form and flaming horse skull cutie mark. He felt like this cutie mark was the one he had been looking for all along. After his transformation finished, he noticed the medallion has disappeared from around his neck before seeing it in ashes at his hooves. He used his magic to get rid of the dust and heard a gasp behind him afterwards. He turned around to see Spike standing there.

"Harold, what are you doing?" Spike asked.

"None of your business, tiny dragon." Harold said.

"I'm not tiny! I need to tell Twilight about this!" Spike said, before running off. Harold teleported in front of him, putting a hoof to his head. Spike's eyes glazed over as Harold used his magic on him. Harold changed his appearance to make himself look the way he did before he merged with the medallion, before releasing Spike from the spell. When he took his hoof away, Spike looked dazed and confused, before shaking his head.

"What happened?" Spike asked.

"Are you alright? You looked out of it after walking into the wall there." Harold said.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Sorry. I sometimes still get the halls mixed up since they look so similar." Spike said.

"It's alright." Harold said.

"Harold!" He looked up to see Twilight flying towards him frantically, before landing and trying to catch her breath.

"Twilight, what's wrong?" Harold asked.

"That…That box you asked me to open…I think it released…some kind of demon!" She said, wheezing as she talked.

"Calm down, and catch your breath first! Demon? What demon?" He asked.

Twilight took a few deep breaths, before continuing to explain herself.

"That box you asked me to open had an evil medallion inside of it. It mentioned that it was coming after you! Did you see it?" She asked.

"No, I haven't seen anything strange. Have you Spike?" Harold asked.

"Nope. No evil medallions here." He said.

"Maybe it somehow doesn't know you're here. That's good."

"It is, but why would it come after me? What if it does find me?"

"I am not sure. At the Gala, I'll ask Princess Celestia about it. She should know a way to protect you from it." She said.

"Thank you. That would put my mind at ease." Harold said.

"You're welcome. If you see anything suspicious, please let me know." Twilight said.

"I will. I'm going to go for a walk to try and clear my head from these worried thoughts." Harold said.

He made his way to the front door, walking through and into the middle of town, before smiling to himself. He was glad that she had not called his bluff.

"What are you smiling about?" He jumped as Pinkie Pie appeared in front of him suddenly. He looked around, wondering where she came from since she seemed to appear out of thin air.

" _How did she get here all of a sudden? I didn't see her when I first entered the town square. Does she have unicorn magic abilities despite being an Earth pony too?"_ He thought.

"Nope! I'm just real speedy. Everywhere and nowhere, all at the same time!" She said, as she giggled and bounced up and down in place.

"I…didn't say that outloud…" He said.

"Of course you didn't! I saw it on the page!" She said.

"Page?"

"The page this story is being written on, obviously! Jeez, this guy is really unobservant, isn't he?"

Harold was getting a headache from her crazy rambling. He shook his head to clear his head of all the questions he had about it, since it was not important and figured it was just her hallucinating something due to a sugar high.

"Anyway, do you know if everyone is prepared for the gala tomorrow?" He asked.

"As far as I know, they are and I am! Are you?" She asked.

"Almost. I still need my suit, which Rarity is working on and then I'll be all set." He said.

"Awesome! I was just about to go to Sugarcube Corner. Want to come have a celebratory 'The Gala is tomorrow' cupcake with me?" She asked.

"Sure, I don't see why not." He replied.

She smiled widely and bounced all the way Sugarcube Corner as he followed her. When they arrived at the bakery, he went to a table as she put a cupcake in front of him.

"What kind of cupcake is it?" He asked.

"It's a red velvet cupcake with vanilla buttercream frosting and white chocolate chips on top. Fresh batch I made this morning, and there's plenty more in case you want more than one." She said. Suddenly, there was a faint sound of a ringing noise coming from the back room. "Oh, the blueberry surprise muffins are ready. Be right back!"

Harold chuckled as she zoomed into the back room. He noticed a few other ponies in the shop, enjoying various treats. He waved his hoof over the cupcake for Pinkie as red energy was absorbed into the cupcake. He noticed a small colt saw him do that.

"Mommy! Mommy, that man can use magic!" The colt said. The mare sitting next to him looked at Harold before looking at her son.

"I think you've had too much sugar. Earth ponies can't use magic. Everyone knows that."

"But mom!"

"It's not possible! Now, be quiet and eat your treat, unless you don't want ice cream afterwards."

Harold was glad that the mare didn't see him and didn't believe her son as the colt went back to eating his treat in silence. He looked up as Pinkie came back and hopped into her seat.

"Sorry that took a bit longer than it should have." She said.

"It's perfectly fine. I didn't mind having to wait." He said.

"Good. To the Gala." Pinkie said as she held her cupcake up, like she was holding a glass to toast. He smiled and returned the gesture. "To the Gala" He replied. He took a bit of his cupcake, and watched as she ate hers. When they finished the cupcakes, he watched her as he saw her blue eyes turn red for a moment before turning back to their natural blue color.

"So, what are you looking forward to the most about the Gala? I assume hanging out with your friends?" He asked.

"Yup. AJ, Dashie, Rarity, Fluttershy and I are going to have a blast! I hope you have a great time too!" She said.

"What about Twilight Sparkle? Are you looking forward to spending time with her too?" He asked.

"Huh? Why would I? She rejected our friendship during the first party I ever threw for her, and was very rude as she threw everypony out before the party had even gotten started! I don't want to be friends with a party pooper pony like that!" She said, with an annoyed expression on her face.

"That's very understandable. Since she is the Princess of Friendship, she will be in attendance. Will that bother you?" He asked.

"Princess of Friendship? Celestia must have given her that title and status out of pity. She has no friends as far as I know, and I keep tabs on everypony." She said. "Oh well. As long as she doesn't rain on my party parade, I'll be fine."

"I'm glad to hear you'll still enjoy yourself. I'm going to go check on my suit now. I'll see you tomorrow night." He said, before getting up and leaving the bakery. He was glad to see his memory replacement spell worked. He went to the rest of Twilight's friends to put his memory replacement on them as well. He knew tomorrow night would be the best night of his life, and the first step towards his ultimate goal and destiny. He couldn't wait to see the despair on Twilight's face and the rest of the Princess's as their lives would come tumbling down around them.

The next night, Harold was looking in the mirror as he fixed his tie and tuxedo. He had to admit that for Rarity's first time making a tuxedo, she did do a very good job. He went to the front hallway of Twilight's castle, seeing her as he passed by her bedroom. He saw her putting on a purple dress that complimented her mane and cost very nicely. She turned around to look at him, giving him a small smile.

"You look very nice. Ready for tonight?" He asked.

"Yeah, I guess so." Twilight said. He noticed that she seemed slightly distracted by something.

"Is there something wrong?"

"No, nothing. Just, at the Gala, something always seems to go wrong. I just hope tonight is different and we can just relax, and enjoy each other's company."

"That is understandable. I, too, hope nothing catastrophic happens. Are the others here yet?"

"Not yet. Usually they're quite punctual."

"Let us go to the front door. Maybe they were just running a bit late."

He walked alongside her as they headed to the front door. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Twilight smiled as she rushed to the door and opened it, seeing her friends standing there.

"Hi, everypony! Ready to go to the Gala?" She asked.

"Yes, we are. It is such an honor you invited us to go to the Gala with you, Princess!" Rarity said.

"Yes, and we went to the Gala together the last two times, and you know I don't like being called Princess." Twilight said.

"Yeah, I remember. You had us escort you as your bodyguards, in case some unsavory folk tried anythin'." Applejack said.

"Wait, what? That's not true at all!" Twilight said.

"We know how humble you are, Princess." Fluttershy said.

"No, I'm not being humble! We're friends! What's wrong with you guys?" Twilight asked, a worried expression on her face. The expression intensified when Pinkie started laughing hysterically.

"That's a good joke! Tell another one!" Pinkie said, before continuing to laugh.

Harold had to keep himself from chuckling at the look of confusion on Twilight's face. He saw the others laugh softly at Pinkie's comment. He stepped forward, gesturing outside.

"Shall we be off to the Gala? I'm sure we don't want to miss one moment of it." He said.

Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Applejack walked over to the pony drawn carriage that pulled up to the front of the castle, climbing inside it. He looked over at Twilight, who was still standing in the doorway, in shock. He walked over to her, nudging her side, causing her to jump a bit.

"You alright, Twilight? I know you're worried about your friends' behavior, but it's probably just a prank." He said.

"A-A prank? A prank, right! Yeah, that had to be it! Thanks for saying that, Harold. I was thinking something wildly awful happened to them." She said, taking a deep breath, before getting into the carriage. Harold followed her and sat next to her.

"Aren't you going to sit in the front where the driver is so you can wave to the other ponies at the Gala when we arrive like you normally do?" Pinkie asked.

"Oh, Pinkie, you're so funny! Of course not! I want to ride with my best friends!" She said, with a chuckle. "Isn't Pinkie just the best jokester?"

The others stared at her, not one smile on any of their faces. Twilight's humorous laugh slowly turned into a nervous one before she stopped laughing and looked down at the floor. The thick silence was suffocating as they didn't speak or make eye contact with each other. By the time they arrived at Canterlot Castle, Twilight's mental stress was very evident on her face. The rest of them exited the carriage, seeming excited but Twilight continued to stare at the ground as she walked along.

"Hello, Princess Twilight." One of the Canterlot pony guests said to her as the pony bowed to her. It snapped her out of her deep thinking as she straightened up and smiled at them, before greeting them. She walked into the castle and Harold was not surprised to see Twilight go straight to Celestia, who was at the top of the stairs, shaking hooves with the guests.

"Hello, Princess Celestia." He said. He noticed for a second her regal demeanor seemed broken upon seeing him, but he knew she wouldn't allow her subjects to see her vulnerable again, like she had been when Queen Chrysalis attacked.

"Hello, Harold. It is good to see you again." She said, as he shook her hoof and bowed to her before he walking to the main room where all the ponies were mingling. He walked around, surveying the floor and talking with others, doing his best to seem inconspicuous. He noticed Twilight and Celestia talking amongst themselves.

Suddenly, a pink Alicorn with a blue heart for a cutie mark, accompanied by a white unicorn, wearing a suit and shield for a cutie mark that was similar to Twilight's. They both greeted Twilight and hugged her. He noticed Twilight seemed relieved when they greeted her, before her face became serious as she talked to them. Celestia nodded, before leading all three of them away from the party area. He wondered where they were going. He saw Twilight's friends talking to each other and walked over to them.

"Evening, ladies. Enjoying yourselves?" He asked.

"You bet your boots we are!" Applejack said.

"The gala is always such an exciting event, how can one not enjoy oneself?" Rarity asked.

"I'm glad to hear you are. I couldn't help but notice Twilight talking to a pink alicorn and a white unicorn stallion. Who are they?" He asked.

"That's Princess Cadence and Twilight's brother, Shining Armor. He's the leader of the Royal Guard and married to Cadence. You might remember they defeat Crysalis and her Changelings army with Shining's repulsion spell and the power of their love, when the changelings tried to take over Canterlot." Rainbow Dash said.

" _So he's a knight in shining armor? How cheesy…"_ Harold thought.

"Why do you ask?" Fluttershy asked.

"I saw them talking to Twilight and Princess Celestia, before all of them left with Twilight to go somewhere." He said.

"I wonder what they're up to." Rainbow Dash said. "We should follow them and find out!"

"Are you sure? It might just be a royal matter." Fluttershy said.

"Well, all the better to check. If there is a matter of importance, we should be the first to know about it." Rarity said.

"I agree, we should follow them." Harold said, before leading them through the halls. They heard the sound of faint voices coming from the throne room. He silently opened the door a bit and had them sneak inside the room. He saw there were no guards as he went to hide with the others as they looked over at the princesses and Shining Armor.

"The memory loss only appeared tonight?" Cadence asked.

"Yes. Harold tried to tell me that they were just kidding around, but I don't think they are! Something is terribly wrong with my friends!" Twilight said, as she started to pace back and forth.

"You believe they may be under the influence of a spell?" Celestia asked.

"A spell or potion or something! I didn't have time to go visit Zecora to get the potion that reveals if a pony is spelled before coming here. What should I do?"

"I think you should calm down. It could just be some amnesia and they'll remember soon. Though, this Harold character bothers me." Shining said.

"You think he has something to do with my friends having their memories altered?" Twilight asked.

"I do. What do we know about him?"

"Well, he's Princess Celestia's magic advisor."

They looked at Celestia. Celestia took a deep breath before nodding. "Indeed he is my magic advisor and there was an incident with him a few days ago." She said.

Harold listened as she explained about how he used a black magic ritual to become a Soul Harvester and how he was stripped of his magic and teleported to a random location.

"So, that's how he ended up in my home! He found a box that had a medallion in it and I opened it. It must have given him back his dark powers and he spelled my friends!" Twilight said, an angry look on her face.

"Woah, that's a whacky story! Is it true?" Pinkie asked Harold.

"Of course not. She's making it up! An Earth pony using magic is completely ludicrous!" Harold said.

"But why would she lie?" Applejack asked.

"She's probably the one that hexed you. She thought you were friends, remember?

"But we've never been friends with her." Fluttershy said.

"Exactly! She must have forced you all to be friends to get her status as the Princess of Friendship and now wants their help to hex you all again!"

"Say it's not so!" Rarity exclaimed.

"It is!" Harold said. "She's an alicorn, who specializes in magic, so why wouldn't she know spells to make somepony befriend another and what would keep her from using it? There would be no repercussions for her actions!"

"Well, I'm not going to be forced to be anypony's friend!" Rainbow Dash said, angrily.

"Same here!" Pinkie said. "Unless this is all deception and Harold's the real bad guy and is trying to get us to defeat the princesses so he can take over the world."

The others stared at her in bewilderment. "What?" Fluttershy asked

"Nothing! Let's get 'em!" Pinkie said.

"I should have known he was lying to me!" Twilight said. "We have to go get him before-"

"Before what?" Harold asked as he walked out of their hiding spot with the rest of them. Twilight noticed all of her friends were glaring at her, expect for Fluttershy, who just looked fearful of her.

"Girls, get away from him! He's pure evil!" Twilight said.

"No, you are!" Pinkie said.

"Yeah, you're the one castin' spells and hexin' ponies into being your friend! Now, you got them believin' your wild stories to have them help in hexin' us again. Well, we're not gonna fall for your tricks!" Applejack said.

"He's lied to you! He's the bad pony, not us!" Princess Celestia said. "An alicorn would never abuse her magic to bend the world to her will."

"Is that really so, Princess Celestia? You have a bad habit of lying to others. Maybe we can beat the truth out of you! Get them!" Harold shouted, before he and Twilight's friends charged at them.

Shining put a shield up around them, which Rainbow started to slam against with all of her might. After a few hits, Shining couldn't hold the shield up anymore and was clobbered by Pinkie and Applejack. Cadence levitated them off of him before tying them up in the curtains lining the wall next to the stain glass windows, as they struggled to get free.

Rarity charged Twilight, who tried to keep her away, but was knocked over when Rainbow Dash swooped down and body slammed Twilight. Twilight didn't want to, but she knew she'd have to fight back as she zapped both of them, sending them flying backwards as they hit the floor hard.

"I'm so sorry, you guys. I don't want to do this!" She said.

"Sure you don't! You're nothing but a liar!" Rarity said as she stood up, prepared to attack again. Harold ran towards Celestia, and tackled her to the ground. He grabbed her wing, and pulled hard, relishing hearing her cry out in pain. He was caught off-guard when she head-butted him, causing him to let go and stumble backwards before he recovered from the blow and turned around to try and kick her horn. She moved, so his hind hooves connected with the side of her face, leaving her dazed from the hard blow to the head.

Twilight saw Rainbow Dash fly over to Applejack and Pinkie Pie from the curtains, before they charged towards her brother and Cadence. She knew she had to put a stop to them and flew up into the air before her horn lit up and blinding light spread throughout the room. When Harold could see again, he could see that Twilight's magic had encased himself, and Twilight's friends. He tried to move, but couldn't from the spell Twilight cast. He saw her land, seeming to be struggling to hold the spell.

"Cadence, can you take over the freeze spell? I need to unlock my friends' memories." Twilight said.

Cadence nodded, and Harold saw the magic around his body change from purple to light blue. Twilight walked over to her friends one by one, and put her horn against their foreheads. He saw them struggle until their true memories were returned to them. As they recovered their memories, Cadence released them from the freeze spell until Harold was the only one with the freeze spell, holding him hostage.

"Twilight, we're mighty sorry." Applejack said.

"It's alright, everypony. Harold had you under his spell." Twilight said, as everypony turned towards him.

"So, I was right?" Pinkie asked. "That was a complete and total guess!"

"Was it?" Rarity asked.

"Maybe. I'm not really sure." Pinkie answered.

"It was kind of a weird thing to say and not be sure about it." Applejack said.

"I'm really not, but it makes sense, you have to adm-." Pinkie said.

"Dear Celestia, you all are annoying!" Harold shouted.

His body glowed red brightly as he freed himself from the freeze spell, and reverted to his true evil form as a column of red magic is sent into the air and through the ceiling. All the guests at the gala could see the light and slowly made their way to the throne room. The guards rushed into the room, standing between the Princesses and Harold. Harold glared at them as an evil smirk appeared on his face.

"Okay, now I'm really sure!" Pinkie said.

"Enough of this charade! It is time to end the era of self-absorbed alicorn princesses!" Harold declared, before looking at the citizens that entered the room. "Citizens of Equestria, give me your souls!"

Red tendrils reached up from the ground around the gala guests' hooves. They screamed in panic as they quickly tried to flee the room. Some of them managed to get out of the room, but Harold used his magic to close the doors to trap some of them in. The others that were left behind tried to bash the door down, but couldn't escape as the tendrils ripped their souls out and absorbed them to increase his magical power. He levitated himself above them as he looked down on them.

"Give those souls back!" Twilight shouted at him.

"No. In fact, why don't you join them?" He said, with a malicious grin.

Harold's tendrils wrapped around Twilight and her friends, Cadence, Shining Armor, and Princess Celestia. The tendrils pulled their souls out, before absorbing them. When he absorbed the power from the alicorns, he could feel his magic power increase more than he ever imagined it would. He lowered himself to the floor as the rest of the guests came back into the room as well as the members of the Royal Guard came in. He looked over at them, before going and sitting on Celestia's throne.

"Citizens of Equestria, bow down in front of your new ruler, or face the consequences!" Harold shouted, as red mist appeared around their feet. They quickly bowed down in front of him, making him feel even more empowered. He looked at the throne, not liking the design as he touched it, spreading red magic over the throne as it changed into a black and red crystal throne, and the sun symbol changed into his cutie mark, a flaming horse skull. The magic continued to spread, changing the design of the whole castle to represent the new ruler they would now bow down to and show respect. As the banners on the wall changed to show his cutie mark, he pointed to a blank window in the throne room. There was a red flash, before it depicted the fall of the Equestrian rulers, so all who entered would remember this day for the rest of time. He smiled as he looked forward to the reign he would have over Equestria.


	9. Chapter 9

Twilight lit up her horn, looking around, seeing she was surrounded by darkness. She listened for the sound of anypony, but heard nothing. The silence was nerve wracking as she worried about what happened to her friends. She flapped her wings to try and move through the air, but after doing so for a few minutes, she felt like she wasn't going anywhere. She stopped and sighed, feeling lonely and lost as she floated there, suspended in the dark.

"I can't believe it…We failed. Equestria needed us and we couldn't defend it. I let down everyone: Princess Celestia, Cadence, Shining Armor, my friends and all the species that live all over Equestria. Now, who knows what will happen to our fair land…" She said, sadly. Her ears twitched, as she looked around. "Was that a voice? Hello? Is somepony there?" She listened closely, and was certain that she heard a voice in the distance. It was too faint for her to make out what the pony was saying, but it was very familiar to her. Suddenly, a dark purple light appeared, in the same direction the faint voice was coming from. Twilight could feel it was another pony lost in the darkness.

She felt determined to reach the pony and tried against to fly towards the light, but once again, made no progress.

"It's no use. This darkness is holding me in place. If only there was a way I could expel it. Hmm…Maybe if I can't expel it, I can at least keep it from affecting me. That's it! What was that spell I read about in Starswirl the Bearded's Knowledge of Dark Spells?"

She thought hard about it, trying to recall the information she needed. When she finally remembered it, she closed her eyes, concentrating hard before putting a shield around herself. The shield was completely black inside of it before a slight purple glow could be seen as the darkness was pushed out of the shield, leaving it a clear, purple bubble around herself. She felt her body float downward before she could stand on the floor of the shield. She tried to fly towards the white light and was glad to see the light become brighter and brighter as she got closer and closer to it. Soon, she found she was in front of Rarity, making her feel extremely glad that she had found one of her friends in this dark place.

"Rarity! Are you alright?" Twilight asked.

"Yes, I'm fine, well, as fine as I can be after having my soul torn out and devoured by some horrid stallion. I can't believe Harold would betray us like this!" Rarity said.

"Me neither. He seemed like such a nice guy." Twilight said.

"Well, I, for one, do not like this dreary and bleak setting. How do we get out?" Rarity asked.

"I'm not sure. Since I found you, I wonder if we can find everypony else?" Twilight asked.

"It's quite possible and if it is, we must! We can't leave without them!" Rarity exclaimed.

Twilight nodded and looked around for any other faint lights in the distance. She didn't see anything and decided that traveling through the darkness would help them reach their friends. Twilight used the same shield spell on Rarity she had used on herself. The two of them walked around, before seeing a red glow in the distance.

"What is that?" Rarity asked.

"It's another pony. I saw a dark purple light before I found you." Twilight said. "Did you not see a light when I was flying towards you?"

"No, there was none. I only knew you were there since I faintly heard you talking to yourself." Rarity said.

Twilight found it very strange that she was the only one who could see other ponies' location in the dark world. They got closer to the light and saw Rainbow Dash waving to the two of them as they approached.

"Man, am I glad to see you guys? Where are we?" Rainbow asked.

"It appears we have been sucked into a dark world. It's probably where all the souls he absorb go. I remember reading that Soul Harvesters feed off of negative emotions from the souls they trap." Twilight said.

"Like how the Changelings gain power from feeding off of other ponies' love?" Rainbow asked.

"Precisely." Twilight said.

"So, what's the plan?"

"The plan is to meet up with the rest of our friends, and then figure out how to get out of here, if there is a way out."

"Sounds like a good plan to me. Once I get back to my body, I'm giving Harold a piece of my mind!" Rainbow said.

Twilight used the shield spell on Rainbow, before going to find Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie. Once they were all together, Twilight towed them behind her in their shields as they looked around for an exit, but only stumbled upon more and more darkness.

"Can we stop for a moment? My hooves are dreadfully tired from all this walking." Rarity said.

"We can't stop! We have to find a way out and get back to our bodies!" Rainbow said.

"So, does that mean we ain't dead?" Applejack asked. "I only ask since I thought having your soul ripped out would kill you faster than a Summer tree trying to survive a thirty-foot blizzard in the middle of Winter."

"No, we aren't dead. Soul Harvesters take souls from living ponies, and put them in a coma to be able to continue to feed off of the spirit's emotions while trapped in this place." Twilight explained.

"S-So if we aren't dead, how do we get out?" Fluttershy asked, her already soft voice, barely a murmur as she spoke, looking extremely scared. "I don't like this place very much…"

"Maybe they might know somepony who can help us!" Pinkie Pie said.

"Who?" Twilight asked.

"The guards at that castle down there, of course! Look!" Pinkie said.

All of them looked down when Pinkie pointed to a dark looking castle underneath them. It was purple and black and had guards wearing black armor stationed outside of it. As Twilight looked closer, she gasped in shock.

"Those are the guards from Canterlot Castle!" She said.

"It is? How can ya tell?" Applejack asked.

"I can just sense it." Twilight said.

"Well, let's get down there and ask them for information!" Rainbow said.

"Wait, w-what if they attack us?" Fluttershy asked.

"Why would they, darling? They'll surely recognize us and help us. They have no reason to attack us." Rarity said.

"Come on, let's head down there. Hang on." Twilight said.

Twilight towed her friends down to the ground in front of the castle. When she got to it, she got rid of the force field around herself and her friends, noticing that the darkness didn't seem to touch the castle at all, giving them free reign to walk around as they pleased.

When the guards saw them approaching, a guard walked down the steps of the castle to block their path, as he glared at them.

"Halt! State your business!" He said.

"We were wondering, who's castle is this?" Twilight asked.

"This is Emperor Morde's castle. He does not allow civilian visits without an appointment. Now, leave this instant!" He demanded.

"Emperor Morde? Who in the hay is that?" Applejack asked.

"You don't know who Emperor Morde is?" He asked.

"No, we don't. We kinda just got here." Rainbow said.

The guard eyed them suspiciously, before telling them to wait there and turned around to go into the castle. After a few minutes, he came back, his stern gaze relaxed slightly, which Twilight hoped was a good thing.

"Follow me." The guard said, before turning around and walking towards the castle entrance.

"Where are we going?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah, we're not taking a step, unless you tell us where we're going!" Rainbow said.

"Emperor Morde wishes to see you. It is rare he sees ponies without an appointment prior to their arrival, so consider it an honor he wants to. Now, come! Emperor Morde does not like being kept waiting!" The guard said.

As they walked through the halls of the dark castle, Twilight couldn't help but feel very uneasy. The guard opened a couple of large doors that led to a large throne room. The guard watched them go inside before closing the door behind them and going back to his guard duties elsewhere in the castle. Twilight and her friends looked around the room in awe from how large it was as they walked forward. They noticed there were guards standing on either side of the room, watching them intensely as they passed by. When they got to the throne, but they stopped as they noticed something that shocked them to the core. At the end of the hall was a black unicorn with a red mane, tail, eyes with a flaming horse skull cutie mark, but what caught their attention was the pony at his feet; the sight of the pony causing all of them to gasp in shock and horror.

"Princess Celestia? What are you doing and what did he do to you?!" Twilight asked.

Princess Celestia was hornless, her wings clipped, and was wearing a chain leash that was connected to the throne. She was looking at the unicorn with an adoring gaze, before looking at Twilight.

"Princess…Celestia? Who?" She asked.

"What have I told you, Sun Slut?" The unicorn growled.

"N-Never to speak, unless given permission. Sorry, Master." She said, looking down at the floor, looking very ashamed.

"Excuse her. She's still learning her manners. I am Emperor Morde." Morde said.

"Let me guess: You're the dark spirit that took over Harold's body, and is using his body. Am I right?" Twilight asked.

"Princess Twilight Sparkle, as perspective as ever, I see. I wouldn't expect any less from you. Most of this was possible because of him. You have no idea how much power I was able to gain just from his anger and fear alone." Morde said.

"You all must be the famous heroic mares that always save the world with your Elements of Harmony. Too bad you can never win without using that crutch."

"Are you dissing the Elements of Harmony? They can obliterate you and send you right back to where you came from!" Rainbow said, angrily.

"Yeah. Don't think for a second, just 'cause you locked us in this here spirit world, or whatever, that you've got us beat!" Applejack said.

"Oh? What are you going to do? I doubt your strongest attack works on me at all." He said, with a chuckle.

"We'll find a way to defeat you, and get out of here! That, you can be certain of, you ruffian!" Rarity said.

"That is something I would love to see, but face it, you'll never defeat me, if you couldn't defeat me in the real world." Morde said.

"We'll find a way! You won't get away with this!" Twilight said.

He noticed that all of them had a fiery determination in their eyes. Even the very timid Fluttershy seemed emboldened suddenly. He could tell their bond as friends gave enough other confidence, which caused him to chuckle softly.

"What's so funny?" Applejack asked.

"Yeah! Nopony told a joke!" Pinkie said.

"I just find it amusing how much faith you put in each other. Even after being defeated once by me, you're still willing to try and contest my rule? I don't know if I should find you all courageous or complete fools." He said.

"Well, we-"

Twilight was cut off when the throne room doors opened, and everypony looked over to see who had come into the room. When Twilight saw who it was, her heart skipped a beat with excitement as she ran over to him.

"Shining Armor! You're alright! I was so worried!" Twilight said, excitedly as she hugged him. She noticed that Shining did not hug her back, and felt him tense up from her touch, before pushing her off. He looked at her with the usual royal guard stone faced stare. Her smile faded as she looked at him with a confused expression on her face.

"Brother, what's wrong?" Twilight asked.

"Brother? Miss, I don't know who you are, but I would appreciate it if you did not touch me." He said, sternly.

"Wh-What? It's me, Twilight Sparkle! Your LSBFF!" She said, looking at his face for any sign of recognition or sign that he knew what she was talking about, but got no reaction at all from him.

"LSBFF?" He asked.

"Little Sister Best Friend Forever…" Twilight said.

"I don't have a little sister. I'm an only child. You must have me mistaken for someone else, miss." He said.

"No, that's not possible!" She said.

"Anyway, if you'll excuse me, I have something to discuss with Emperor Morde." He said, as he rolled his eyes.

" _Emperor Morde must have messed with my brother's memories, if he really doesn't remember who I am."_ She thought. She turned to Morde, glaring at him enraged.

"What have you done to my brother?" She asked.

"I haven't done anything to him." Morde said, with a smirk. He looked over at Shining as Shining approached the throne, bowing to Morde. "What is it, Shining?"

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Emperor, but I wanted to report that we have new recruits." Shining said.

"Very good. I will see them momentarily. But first, take Twilight and her little friends to the dungeon for threatening me."

"Yes, Emperor Morde." Shining said, before Shining and the other guards surrounded them. Twilight and her friends got into an battle stance, preparing to fight the guards.

"Ah, ah, no fighting in my throne room!" Morde said. He clapped his hooves together, and chains appeared around the mares' legs, magic nullification rings appeared on Twilight and Rarity's horns, and wing restraints appeared on Rainbow Dash and Twilight's wings that would keep them from being able to open their wings fully.

"Hey, what gives? Get this stuff off of me!" Rainbow yelled as she tried to break the chains and restraints on her wings.

"No. These are for your own protection. Wouldn't want you running off into the void, now would we?" Morde asked, before nodding to the guards. The guards grabbed them and forced them to walk forward, with Shining bringing up the rear, as they were led out of the room.

"Oh, Shining. I'm getting a bit bored with this one." Morde said, gesturing at Princess Celestia. "Bring me Candy once you're done dealing with them."

"Yes, Emperor Morde." He replied.

Twilight looked back at him, before asking, "Who is Candy?"

"Morde's other sex mare, formally known as Princess Cadence." He answered.

"S-S-Sex mare?!" Twilight asked, horrified.

"What? How can you allow such a horrible thing?" Rarity asked.

"That just ain't right!" Applejack said.

"Emperor Morde does what he pleases. He doesn't need your approval. Now, be quiet and continue walking!" Shining ordered.

Once they were led down into the basement of the castle, the guards locked them up in a few of the cells. Pinkie Pie and Twilight were put in one cell, Rarity and Applejack were put in another and Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were put in the last one. They watched them walk towards the stairs to go upstairs. Twilight sighed as she sat down, looking down at the floor. A loud clanging was heard as Applejack repeatedly tried to kick the cell doors open, but due to being shackled couldn't get enough power behind her kick to do anything other than slightly shake the door.

"It ain't no use. These shackles have me held down tighter than a pig stuck in a mud pit on a hot summer day." Applejack said.

"Well, there has to be some way out! They can't expect me to stay in here!" Rainbow said.

"We have to stay calm, and level headed. He feeds off of anger and fear, so we can't allow him to get any stronger from feeding off of ours." Twilight said.

"But, you wouldn't say that unless you were feeling fear, right?"

Twilight looked over to see a pony curled up in the corner of the cell across from her. The pony's voice had a worn, depressed tone to it, and his body was completely gray. She felt like the pony was having to reach deep inside himself to find the will to speak. Twilight got the feeling that the pony's spirit had been completely broken from being imprisoned.

"Who are you?" Twilight asked.

"You don't recognize me?" The gray pony asked as he stood up and turned to face them.

"H-Harold?" Twilight asked in shock.

"Yes. What, did our time together actually mean nothing to you?" He asked.

"N-No, it did mean something to me! To all of us! Just didn't recognize you since you've lost your color." She said.

He looked down at himself, before looking at them. "Oh…I hadn't even noticed that." He said.

"Wait, but I thought you were working with Morde." Rainbow said.

"I thought so too, but after I put on the medallion, he betrayed me and put me down here." He said, with a sigh. "I can't believe I fell for his deception. The fact that all of you are here means that he must have defeated you. My selfish actions caused Equestria to fall to darkness. I feel awful…"

"Indeed you should feel awful! Any pony foolish enough to mess with dark magic deserves every ounce of guilt he feels!" Rarity said, glaring at him.

"If I had anticipated any of this would happen, I wouldn't have done it." Harold said.

"Yeah, right. You put the medallion on after you had been possessed the first time. So you knew exactly what you were doing!" Pinkie Pie said.

"We thought we were your friends." Fluttershy said.

"Until you went and brainwashed us and used us for evil!" Applejack said.

"If these bars weren't in the way, you'd be in for the biggest beat down of your life!" Rainbow said.

"I started this out with good intentions. Somewhere, I was led astray, and I apologize for that." He said.

"Save your apologies! They won't fix the dark rule Equestria will be under for who knows how long!" Applejack said.

They continued to bicker and argue, throwing insults and jabs at Harold, who threw insults back at them.

"STTTOOOPPPPPPP!" They stopped and looked over at Twilight, who was glaring at all of them. She was visibly shaking in anger. "Look, I know everything has gone awry, but this is no time to be fighting! If we want to get out of here, we need to work together!"

"You mean, work with the backstabber over there?" Rainbow asked.

"Yes. At least he's admitted he's made a mistake, and that he knows what he did was wrong. I think we can trust him." Twilight responded.

"I know you've got a heart of gold and all, Twi, but even I don't think we should trust him." Applejack said.

"It's fine. I didn't expect you to…Besides, you'll all be brainwashed into being his servants soon, and I'll just be locked down here for all eternity." Harold said.

"B-Brainwashed?" Fluttershy asked, timidly.

"That must be why Princess Celestia, Princess Cadence and Shining were acting the way they were." Rarity said.

"I don't want to end up like that!" Fluttershy said, trembling with fear.

"I'm sure none of us do." Applejack said, with a sigh before looking at Harold. "Fine. If you're willing to help, I'll work with ya, but you betray us again and I'll have you strung up faster than a pig at an Apple family rodeo, got it?"

"Help? How can I help?" He asked.

"You have your original cutie mark now, right? Is there anything around here you could use to escape?" Twilight asked.

"I wish." He said, before turning to reveal he was a blank flank again. "Even if I did have it, I don't think it would help. Morde is so powerful, it wouldn't surprise me if he's watching us or anticipating us trying to escape."

"But is it not worth it to at least try? Don't you want to prove to Morde, and to yourself that you're not this bitter, cold-hearted pony?" Twilight asked.

Harold didn't answer as he pondered what she had said. He knew that this had all started because he felt his parents' death were unfair and blamed Princess Celestia for what happened. He had let his emotions get the better of him and he did want to prove that he understood that he knew that this was not the case.

"Alright. I have an idea, but I need you guys to go along with my plan, alright?" Harold asked.

Once they were on board, he explained the plan to them. Sometime later, a guard came down and unlocked the cell holding Twilight and her friends were in. "Emperor Morde has requested your presence in the throne room. Get moving." He ordered. As they started to exit their cells and follow the guard, Harold walked to his cell door, making the guard stop to look at him.

"What do you want?" The guard asked.

"I was wondering if I could watch the brainwash process?" Harold asked.

"Why? You said before you wanted nothing to do with this." The guard said.

"Well, might as well see the downfall of Equestria while it happens since this is my fault." Harold said.

The guard looked at him quizzically before he unlocked Harold's cell, and had him follow them to the throne room. As they walked through the hall, they passed by Princess Celestia, Cadence and Luna, all of them without their horns and wings, chained together as they were escorted towards the dungeon. When they arrived at the throne room, Morde smiled at them, but a look of surprised appeared on his face when he saw Harold.

"Hello, Harold. I wasn't expecting you to be here." Morde said.

"I decided I wanted to see you brainwash them." Harold said.

"Oh?" Morde asked.

"Yeah. Feller wouldn't stop goin' on and on about how he couldn't wait to see the last of Equestria's scum to be defeated for good." Applejack said, glaring at him.

"Well, this certainly is a surprising, but delightful turn of events. Last thing Harold said to me was that he would put my evil deeds to an end." Morde said.

"I did say that, but it's too late for that." He said.

"P-Please, I don't want to be brainwashed!" Fluttershy said, as she started to tear up, as Rainbow comforted her.

"I assure you, it doesn't hurt at all, and I'm sure you'll be happier once you don't have to worry about those trivial duties of yours. In fact, just to prove that what I say is true and what you've told me is true, Harold, you can go first." Morde said, smiling devilishly.

"M-Me?" Harold asked.

"Yes, you. If the fate of Equestria doesn't matter to you anymore, stand here and let me wipe your memories of your old, sad life." Morde said.

Harold tentatively approached the throne. Morde used his horn to levitate a staff that was hanging on the wall and drag it over to himself. The staff was black with a hook at the end of it that was wrapped around a red orb. Morde put the orb against Harold's forehead before starting to chant in a language Harold didn't recognize.

"What's goin' on? This wasn't part of the plan!" Applejack whispered to Twilight.

"I'm not sure, but I'm sure Harold knows what he's doing." Twilight whispered back before they heard a loud crash. Harold had been blasted in the head and sent flying backwards, hitting the ground hard.

"Harold! Are you alright?" Twilight asked, before realizing she shouldn't have said that. "Not that I care or anything…"

"Save your poor acting skills for somepony else. You really think I would fall for that?" Morde asked as he addressed them. "I've made sure he won't try to interfere in my plans. It's a loss of a soul, but I have enough power from the rest of you."

"You don't mean…!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Yes, I do. Take a look for yourself." Morde said, pointing to Harold. As she stood over his unconscious body, she could see his breathing becoming more and more shallow by the second as he twitched a bit. She realized she was tearing up before wiping them away and looking angrily at Morde.

"You monster!" She shouted.

"Now, enough stalling! Step forward and accept your new destinies!" He said.

"No! We'll never surrender to a cold-hearted brute like you!" Rarity said.

"Hmph, stubborn until the end, I see. Guards, bring them forth!" He demanded.

The guards approached them from all sides, but this time, they were determined to not be apprehended so easily. When the guards got close, they attacked, shoving them back and using the chains linking them together to trip up the guards. As they fought them off, Harold was fighting as well, for his life. His life flashed before his eyes. As he recounted all of the events that had happened up until now, he felt extremely guilty about everything he had caused. As a bright white light filled his vision, everyone in the throne room heard him take a deep breath before his body stopped moving entirely. His death distracted the girls long enough for the guards to grab them. They struggled and tried to push them off as they were dragged over to Morde.


	10. Chapter 10

"Harold…Harold, wake up!" Harold slowly opened his eyes, looking around for the source of the voice that was calling to him. He realized the voice sounded very familiar. "Oh, good, you're awake." He turned around and was surprised to see his mother and father standing in front of him. He ran over to them, hugging them.

"Mom, Dad, I'm so happy to see you! Wait…" He said, letting go of the hug. "If I'm here, does that mean I'm dead?"

"Yes, well, sort of. You're not completely dead yet. If you want to go back, we can help with that." Mary said.

"We've been watching you ever since that day. We watched you slowly become more and more bitter over our deaths." James said.

"Yeah, I was. I just couldn't get over the fact that you were taken away from me. I keep thinking that if you had had some way to protect yourselves or if I had been faster, you could have been saved. I really regret my actions, but there's nothing I can do. Morde is too powerful for me to confront alone." He said.

"But you aren't alone. You never have been. There are so many ponies who care about you, including us. Morde only has power because of the guilt and anger you feel towards yourself. We don't want you to carry that burden around with you." Mary said.

"We don't blame you for what happened and we want to see you be truly happy." James said.

Harold started to tear up and cried into his mother's shoulder as she held him, letting him get out years of pent up regret and sadness.

"Feel better?" She asked as he started to calm down. Harold nodded, taking a deep breath and regaining his composure.

"You said you could help me in some way? How can I defeat Morde?" Harold asked.

"You already have it." Mary said, as Harold looked at her confused.

"As long as you have faith in yourself and the others around you, Morde can't harm you." James said.

He nodded and smiled. "I understand. I'm ready." He said.

"Great. We'll send you back. We love you and we'll see you later." Mary said.

"Love you too, Mom and Dad." Harold hugged them one more time as he was surrounded by a bright white light. When he could finally see again, he saw Morde's guards holding Twilight and the others down as Morde was about to use his magic staff to brainwash Twilight. Harold got up, which distracted Morde.

"What? How are you alive?" Morde asked.

"Because nothing can kill my spirit, Morde. Not even you." Harold said. "Let them go!"

Morde laughed as he walked towards Harold. "Someone's feeling bold to make such a ridiculous assumption." Morde said.

"Not an assumption. It's a fact." Harold said. "If I've learned anything from this, it's to not let anger and guilt rule your life. I know you feed off of it, but you'll no longer feed off of my soul."

"Like I said before, your soul is of little consequence to me if I lose it. Now, let me make sure I finish you off this time!"

Morde pointed his staff at Harold, blasting him with it. A white force field appeared around Harold, blocking the blast. Morde looked at him dumbfounded before trying to attack him a few more times, but his beams of magic didn't even scratch the surface of the bubble.

"How are you doing that? You shouldn't have any powers!" Morde said.

"I have something you don't: faith in these six here." Harold said, looking over at the Elements of Harmony. "You can have all the power in the world, but it means nothing, if you have nopony to believe in that makes using that power worthwhile."

"I can see Twilight's rubbed off on you. How disgusting."

"I learned that from my parents, actually."

"Who cares! Just die, you pest!" Morde charged up an attack from his horn and blasted Harold with it. Harold teleported behind Morde before kicking him hard, sending him tumbling forward. Harold used his magic to free Twilight and the other from their restraints.

"All right!" Rainbow exclaimed, as she took off into the air, stretching her wings before diving at Morde. She dodged the magic blasts he shot at her before slamming into him, sending him flying into the wall. They surrounded Morde as he slowly got up, rage in his eyes.

"Let's put an end to this once and for all." Twilight said, before activating her rainbow power form and the others did the same.

"I've already told you: the Elements of Harmony won't work on me. What makes you think it will work?" Morde asked.

"He does have a point." Pinkie said.

"Like Harold said, as long as we have faith in each other, there's no way we can lose!" Twilight said.

They charged up their attack, sending a wave of rainbow magic at Morde. Morde glared at them, before charging up his staff and blasting it at the rainbow beam. When the two collided, they were even but his staff slowly started to push his magic towards them, causing him to smile.

"I don't think our faith is enough!" Applejack said.

"What can we do? It's not like there's anypony else we can get faith from. Believe harder!" Rainbow said.

Harold watched as Morde's magic slowly started to overpower theirs. He knew he had to think fast, as he tried to come up with a solution. He got an idea, as he positioned himself underneath them and sent his magic up into theirs. The rainbow beam started to push back towards Morde's, until they were evenly matched.

" _It's not enough! We need more, but how can we get more faith from here?"_ He asked himself. He then got an idea. It would be a stretch, but he believed he could do it. He closed his eyes and concentrated before sending a white beam into the air.

In the real world, Harold's body suddenly buckled before his body glowed white and the beam was sent through the ceiling. All throughout Equestria, the beam of light could be seen by every pony as they gazed up at the sky. An image of the Elements of Harmony trying their hardest to fight Morde could be seen.

"Citizens of Equestria, I don't know for sure if you can hear me, but please, we ask for your help! I am the one who caused this tyrant to come to power. You have no idea how guilty I feel for it and I ask for your forgiveness! Please, in our time of need, we need you to send your faith to us. Show us that you believe in these six mares, who sacrifice everything for us!" He said. The ponies watching gasped as Morde's magic beam started to steadily move towards them again. "Please, hurry!"

The ponies watching were confused on how they could send magic to them, when some of them couldn't, as the unicorns lit up their horns, sending their magic towards the beam of light in the sky. Twilight looked up to see their magic start to overpower Morde's.

"It's working!" She exclaimed. "Keep it up everypony!"

The other pony species closed their eyes and concentrated before their bodies were enveloped by white light and beams of magic were sent to help them. The rainbow beam quickly pushed Morde's magic down before engulfing his body. His body started to break apart as he looked down in horror. "No, stop! Nooooooo!" He cried before exploding into a million pieces. The rainbow beam then engulfed the whole dark world in white light, blinding everypony. The light that was around Harold's body in the real world spread to cover Canterlot Castle, turning it back to normal before white orbs shot out from his body as they flew around, going back to the ponies they belonged to.

Harold woke up, looking around as he saw Twilight and the others slowly get up. He saw Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadence stand up, seeing they looked fine. They had their horns, wings and seemed to be unharmed. He saw Twilight run over to Shining, seeing the two of them hug. He felt elated when he saw everything was as it should be.

"We did it…We actually did it!" He said, excitedly before seeing a bunch of Canterlot guards surround him, glaring at him as Princess Celestia approached him. He noticed her face was very stern, which was very unnerving.

"I know I messed up. I'm sorry and I'm ready to accept any punishment you think is fit." He said to her, before looking at the ground solemnly.

"Shall we take him to the dungeon, Princess?" One of the guards asked.

"I don't think that will be necessary." Celestia said. Harold was surprised to hear her say that and looked at her, seeing that she was smiling at him. He wondered if the experience of having her soul pulled out by a demon had broken her, or if she was playing him for a fool, but saw that she meant it genuinely.

"Y-You don't?" He asked.

"No. I can see that you have learned your lesson, and I sense that your demeanor has changed considerably." She said.

"Wow, thank you, Princess." Harold said.

"If my sister believes you are trustworthy, I suppose I can forgive you as well." Luna said.

"That means a lot to me." He said.

He heard the throne doors open and saw Scarlet standing there. He smiled and ran over to her, holding her tightly. She hugged him back, happy to see him as tears streamed down her face.

"Harold, I'm so glad you're back!" She said.

"I'm glad you are too." Harold said, smiling at her.

Twilight smiled as she watched the two of them, before walking over to Princess Celestia. "I wasn't expecting any of this to happen. I guess it'll be tough to top this Gala, huh?" She asked.

"Maybe." Celestia said.

"Maybe? But, ponies had their souls pulled out and all of Equestria almost fell to darkness! What could possibly top that?" Twilight asked.

"I don't know, but you never know what could happen." Celestia said, before starting to walk to the hall where the Gala was being held to help calm the guests. As she passed by Harold, she stopped. "By the way, Harold, I think that cutie mark suits you very well."

Harold looked down at his flank and saw he had a new cutie mark: A black shield with a white orb on it that had two overlapping swords on top of it. He smiled. "I think it suits me very well, too." He said to her before going back to nuzzling Scarlet. He noticed that one of the stain glass panels was different. It showed his new cutie mark, with a beam coming out of it that was obliterating a dark unicorn. He felt honored to have a window pane dedicated to him.

He walked to the Gala with Scarlet by his side. He noticed some ponies were still very weary around him, but he didn't pay them much mind. He was overjoyed that he hadn't caused the demise of Equestria, and that all of his past demons had been dealt with. He decided he wouldn't look back from now on, only towards what will be, knowing that any bumps in the road along the way would eventually smooth themselves out.


End file.
